Her Collection
by Number Ten
Summary: The Black Fairy casts her dark curse, capturing everyone, but Crystal, Rumpel's daughter. However, the curse forces all the characters to be suspended in animation, to become statues and put on display for the wicked fairy's own bizarre collection. Only one person can save them, but it won't be easy. More details in the Prologue.
1. Prologue: What If?

Prologue: What If?

What if the Black Fairy's curse was really different? What if instead of destroying the Saviour and Storybrooke, she wanted to do something very different. To have the entire fairy tale realm in the palm of her hand, keeping them frozen, as her prisoners in some kind of bizarre museum?

Only one person managed to escape the wrath of the curse, but that doesn't mean saving everyone is going to be easy.

 _A/N_

 _Hey, readers so this is going to be a weird story, mostly because it came from a dream._

 _Basically what's going to happen in my character Crystal was saved from the Black Fairy's curse. However, the Black Fairy has basically frozen everyone and set up a sort of bizarre museum with all the characters on display. It's some weird way to prevent everyone from getting a happy ending. Crystal has to find a way to break the curse and prevent the spell from becoming permanent._

 _It's weird, but hey, if you like creative tales, please review. If you don't, just don't read it. I don't own any of the characters, all the rights got to ABC creators._


	2. Chapter 1: Late Saved Her Life

Chapter 1: Late Saved Her Life

"I knew I should've left earlier," Crystal mutters to herself as she turns off the highway heading towards Storybrooke and her home.

She's dressed nicely with her hair up, prepared to attend Emma and Killian's wedding. The only problem was she slept late and ended up stuck in traffic. She tried calling home a few times, but no one was answering, probably due to the wedding planning. She knew she was probably going to miss the ceremony. "Ah well, free booze and cake," she shrugs to herself. "Plus, Emma and Killian are finally getting married!"

Crystal hadn't seen Storybrooke and her friends in awhile because there was some legal stuff she had to deal with in New York. She was excited to be going home, to see her friends and family again. Especially Gideon. She hadn't really met him yet and was looking forward to it. She was a big half-sister, even though he was now eight years older than her. She still wanted to see him, no matter how old he was now.

She had called her step-mom, Belle, the other night to learn that her dad was once destined to be a Saviour like Emma and he was fated to face the Black Fairy, his mother, and her grandmother. He said that he had defeated her, allowing Emma and Killian's wedding to go on and for life to go back to normal for everyone in the town. Also, her brother, Gideon's heart had been restored, turning him back to normal and a hero.

Crystal makes a turn, checking the clock on the dashboard. Two minutes to six, the wedding was starting at six. To pass the time, she turns on the radio.

"That was the latest hit from Lorde and next up is Ed Sheeran with…"

Suddenly the radio begins to scramble. Crystal fiddles with the dials, trying to get the signal again, but nothing seems to work.

"N-Nothing… can… stop…m-me..."

"What the hell?!" Crystal mutters to herself. "Come on you piece of crap!" She even smacks the thing, but it doesn't change. Fortunately, she passes a familiar landmark, knowing Storybrooke is another few miles up the road. She continues to turn the knobs.

"It's… too… late…now…"

Crystal's phone starts to buzz on the passenger seat and she sees that it's Belle's number. She fumbles, trying to drive with one hand and grab her phone with the other. Finally, she pulls over to answer it. She turns the car off and sighs heavily. She can see the _Welcome to Storybrooke_ sign literally ten feet away. Couldn't her stepmother have waited until after she got into town?

"Hey Belle," she says.

"Crystal listen to me!" is the voice on the other end. It's definitely Belle, but she sounds panicked and worried.

"What's going on?"

"D-Don't… come…" once again static is interfering. Crystal steps out of the car and notices the change in the temperature. The wind has picked up and the sky is graying, even though it was much sunnier earlier. If there was a sunset, it would be the perfect backdrop for a wedding.

"What? You're breaking up?" Crystal shouts.

"Don't come… Bl…Fairy… not…"

The clock tower in town strikes six o'clock, she can hear the chimes. Crystal sighs, knowing she probably missed the ceremony.

"Look, Belle, I'm literally feet from the town line, I'll talk to you at the wedding."

"N…No… c-ur-ur…se"

"What was that?"

There is suddenly a loud rumbling coming from the center of Storybrooke. Crystal has to hold onto the door of her car to keep herself steady. Her entire body suddenly shakes and she feels a great darkness overpower her. Her hands light up a bit, indicating something's wrong with her magic too. The sky has darkened and a large mass of black clouds and sparkling dust begins to come up the road at a rapid pace. It could almost look pretty if it didn't have such a sinister purpose.

From far away a male voice shouts. "IT'S HERE, THE CURSE IS HERE!"

"Oh…" Crystal swallows. Her heart pounds against her rib cage as the mass comes closer and closer. She frantically drops her phone in the seat and makes a full U-turn, hoping that she can outrun the curse. She can see it rolling towards her through the rear-view mirror. She swallows and puts the pedal to the metal. This is what Belle was trying to warn her about. It was yet another dark curse, very different this time, most likely created by her grandmother, the Black Fairy. Everyone else must've been swept up already, the least she can do is leave a little bit of hope to stop it. How? She's not sure, but she doesn't need to be a part of her grandmother's twisted scheme.

The clouds, however, stop once they engulf the _Welcome to Storybrooke_ sign. It's hit the town line and looks like it hits a wall. Crystal stops, pulling her car over to the side and getting out. She watches as the clouds swirl harmlessly behind the invisible barrier that surrounds the town line. She runs up, hoping to get some answers or find someone who can explain it to her, but it's nothing but darkness. Once she reaches the barrier, she's thrown back onto the pavement. She winces in pain and stares up at the dark curse. She's blocked from saving anyone. She's worried about everybody she cares about, her father, brother, Emma, Killian, Henry, Regina, Snow, even Zelena.

"What the hell happened?" Crystal hisses under her breath, not really sure if she wants to know the answer.

 _A/N: So here's the first chapter. I guess being late once and while can save your life, especially if_

 _So here's the first chapter. I guess being late once and while can save your life, especially if your evil grandmother casts a curse on a town of fairy tale creatures. Please bear with me to see where this is going._


	3. Chapter 2: Fated?

Chapter 2: Fated?

Crystal blinks in pure confusion as the clouds continue to swirl at the town line. There is so much about this that she doesn't understand. Why did the Black Fairy enact another curse? What can she possibly hope to gain from it? Did she want to ruin Emma and Killian's wedding? Did it send everyone back to the Enchanted Forest again? What about Henry, since he was born in this world, would he have been spared? Why didn't my dad try to stop it?

But the most important question is, _how am I going to break this curse? I'm not the Saviour, nor am I fated to take on The Black Fairy._

All of that was Emma's job, which was unfortunate, but Crystal knew there had to be a reason why she was spared.

She sits on the hood of her car, still in her dress waiting for the cursed smoke to clear. Her worst fear is that Storybrooke no longer exists, leaving her basically homeless and without family and friends. She doesn't have enough power to travel through realms on her own and if everything is gone, no way of contacting anyone or saving them.

She tries several times to call someone. Emma, David, Regina, Snow, Killian, Belle, Henry, anyone who owns a cell phone. The problem is, every time she tries she hears

"We're sorry, the number you wish to reach no longer exists. Please hang up and try your call again."

After what seems like an hour, Crystal gives up on the cell phones. She can feel tears coming to her eyes and a large lump forming in her throat. She's very afraid that everyone she loves is gone, taken from her. Shel swallows as the sun goes down and everything becomes colder with each passing second. She continues to squint in the gray light, the waiting was killing her.

Eventually, the thick sparkling black clouds start to dissipate and Crystal hops off her car in anticipation and anxiety.

 _Please still be here, please still be here…_

It's hard to see anything in the darkening landscape, so she conjures up and purple orb of light to follow her. She slowly walks towards what was the town line, only the _Welcome to Storybrooke_ sign is gone. She puts her hand forward and to her surprise, it goes right through the barrier that seemed to be protecting the town before. Her hand goes into some of the dispersing sparkling dust. It stings a little in her hand. She manages to grab a handful of particles and tries to examine them. Her orb hovers carefully nearby, shining enough light for her to see what looks like a bunch of coal dust, only lighter and shinier.

Crystal races back to her car and puts the dust in a spare plastic bag, not sure why she's saving some, but thinks it might be useful later. She ties the bag tightly and then goes back towards the line. The air is still filled with the dust and she's afraid to inhale it, thinking it might hurt her in some way.

She decides to create a protective barrier around herself, almost like magical body armor, it was something her father taught her several months ago. Concentrating carefully, she feels the magic surround her, almost creating a second skin. With a deep breath, she steps into the clouds and begins to walk towards what was the center of town. Her orb follows closely behind and the only sound is her own heart beat. She's afraid to cry out for her family and friends, but she continues forward.

As she gets deeper and deeper into the thick cloud, her heart drops into her stomach. She should have seen buildings right now. Maybe Archie's office and Marco and August's workshop but there's nothing but trees and bushes. She begins to tear up and shake with fear. She walks a little while longer and her heart becomes heavy. Where she's standing should be the center of town, where the library and infamous clock tower stood, but instead, there are two large redwood trees that reach up into the starry sky.

"DAD!" she calls out. "EMMA! HENRY! SNOW! KILLIAN! REGINA!"

Her voice merely echoes through the trees and there's no response.

Crystal breaks down without delay. Her hands shake in anger and sadness, tears streaming down her face. Everyone she loves is gone, vanished in a puff of smoke… literally. She falls to her knees and covers her face.

 _Damn her grandmother! Damn this curse! Damn everything! Why does this happen to us? Why can't we lead normal lives?! Why can't we get a few moments of peace, especially for a wedding?!_

A wave of energy leaves her body and echoes through the trees again. A few birds take flight in fear. However, this was nothing new. Whenever Crystal was under extreme emotional stress, her magic builds up in her body and is released like a shockwave once it reaches a climatic point. It can do some damage, but there was nothing to destroy here… not anymore.

Crystal notices that her orb is not hovering near her, providing some comforting light. As she wipes her eyes, she notices the tiny purple dot is at the base of the two redwood trees, where the clock tower once was. This was extremely strange… sometimes it seemed like the little balls of light had a mind of their own and even a personality. She was the only one who could create them, which was unusual and she couldn't control them.

"What do you see?" she whispers to herself, getting up to investigate for herself.

The orb continues to hover around the base of the trees until Crystal gets closer. Once she's near, it becomes brighter to reveal something black. She flinches at first, thinking it's a snake, but it's too thin to be a reptile. She leans down and picks it up.

It's a long string of tiny beads strung together in two layers to great a sort of necklace. There is one large bead in the center of the top layer and the others hang down a limply. Crystal turns the object over in her hands. She realizes that there's not clasp at the back, meaning it wasn't a necklace. She then puts it over her head, thinking it might be a headpiece and it fits almost perfectly. Her heart beats very quickly when a single black feather falls from the piece to the ground. Her mind flashes to when Emma told her what the Black Fairy looked like over the phone, that she was covered in feathers like some kind of evil bird and wearing some weird beaded headpiece that made her look almost like a princess.

Immediately Crystal removes it and wants to throw it away, but instinct tells her otherwise. She realizes that this might be useful in trying to find her grandmother and get some answers. The only problem is, her father's shop is gone and she has no way of contacting anyone.

Still, this was left here for a reason and had to serve a purpose. Maybe she was fated to find it, maybe that's why she ran into a bout of bad luck and she felt as if the world was working against her. It was so she would be late and not become caught up in the curse. She was to be the glimmer of hope meant to save her family and friends from the Black Fairy's curse.

"I won't fail you," she says, squeezing the headpiece to the point of crushing it. "I'll find everyone." She is suddenly reminded of David and Snow's family motto.

"I will always find you!"

 _A/N: Hey everyone, sorry if this chapter is a bit boring, everything will get more interesting as the story progresses. The "clue" left behind by the Black Fairy is that weird beaded headpiece she wears in her fairy form. You might have to google the picture to see for yourself, but I did my best to describe it. Special thanks to dancingmylife away for the encouraging comments. Next chapter will deal with the Black Fairy and what happened to everyone._


	4. Chapter 3: Her Plan

Chapter 3: Her Plan

"Ah…" the Black Fairy sighs happily as she wakes up in her fine modern apartment. She stretches out in her dark silk pajamas before getting up and walking into her kitchen.

The walls of her place were plastered with modern art pieces using mostly black and gray colours, as well as a mirror right by the door so she could look at herself before she left the house. Her living room had very comfortable leather furnishings and even a large black box, which the fairy now knew was a television. She walks into her kitchen and opens the ice box. Sometimes she marveled at the comforts that The Land Without Magic provided. No longer did she have to fetch water from wells as the silver thing did that for her or create fires in the fireplace to cook the food. She now understood why Regina had chosen this land to cast her first curse, it had many luxuries that her realm or any other realms could not offer.

She grabs a funnily shaped china cup from a cupboard and fiddles with a strange machine that spews hot brown liquid for her. It takes a few tries for her to succeed, but eventually, she has a nice steaming mug of hot fluid that stimulates her senses and energizes her body. She burns her tongue the first time but easily fixed that with magic. She sits at a table and reads a stack of papers with words and pictures on it. There was a funny looking man on the front with blonde, fake looking hair standing on a sort of podium, talking some sort of nonsense. She did not find it at all amusing.

"How could one function without a competent ruler?" she mutters to herself.

She continues to drink and eats a little rye bread before she sees a small crystal orb on top of a small table by the door. She smiles to herself, remembering what she intended to do after breakfast. Only half her plan was complete, the other was going take more effort on her part.

After finishing, she goes to a large white washtub with funny knobs and levers on it. To her surprise and delight, it spurts out clean water to bathe in. She's overjoyed she doesn't have to heat water on the fire any longer but does have to fiddle with the controls to get a desirable temperature.

After she's done, she goes to her closet and picks a suitable outfit. The Black Fairy, of course, wanted to wear her usual attire, but she knew that in order to fit in this world, she'd have to dress like everyone else. She picks a black outfit with riding pants and a sort of overcoat that was smaller and fit her perfectly. The entire ensemble was quite comfortable and she didn't have to wear a corset either. It took her a few minutes to get used to moving around in the garments, but soon she was able to prepare to leave this glorious new home. It was much better than the Dark Realm and she was able to decorate it however she wanted.

Soon she was ready to leave, grabbing her black leather satchel and picks up the crystal ball filled with black clouds and sparkling dust on her way out. She chortles to herself before leaving.

She makes it out of this strange castle and finds a fancy black carriage waiting for her, only there are no horses and no coachmen. She fumbles around until she finds the appropriate key that will unlock this strange device. She gets in on the wrong side and soon fixes her mistake. She finds a wheel, which could be used for steering a ship, but apparently could steer this coach as well. It takes her a few minutes to try and start the thing, but eventually uses magic to start it. She then fiddles with several of the knobs until the coach jolts forward and crashes into a stopped one. Afraid of being caught, she quickly fixes the damage and tries to maneuver this strange device. She has several near collisions with other people, all of whom become angry at her for her poor skills, during which she wipes their memories of their encounter with her.

Eventually, she makes it to where she wants to be. She pulls into the designated area for these contraptions and gets out. She carries her crystal ball to a large tall building that had a sign in front of it indicating that it had been sold and underneath was the was Fiona Blackwell. Not a great identity, but it would do.

Fiona walks through the entrance of the building and stares around. The place smelled musty and was barren from top to bottom. There were several levels to the place that were connected by a large marble staircase, which looks rather grandiose, perfect for the fairy's needs. She rolls the crystal ball around in her hands a few times, she uses her magic to block out any windows or doors. She then smiles to herself and executes the next part of her plan.

She throws the orb onto the ground, causing it to shatter and releasing the black smoke everywhere. Fiona steps back and waits until figures begin to materialize from the mist. None of them are moving.

As the smoke clears, the Black Fairy has to laugh as all the citizens of Storybrooke stand frozen in the lobby of the building, including her son, his wife, and her grandson. She remembers how she promised her son that she wouldn't harm his family and gave her grandson's heart back, but she knew rules had to be broken and that her plan could not be completed without them.

Everyone is frozen solid, their eyes glazed over and frozen on their faces are looks of horror and fear of the curse that had engulfed them. They were still dressed in their wedding clothing and were unable to move their limbs. Whether or not they were aware of what happened to them, the Black Fairy did not care, they were all under her control now. They all stood, creating a sort of cemetery around their current captor. The woman walks between the figures and slowly begins to separate the ones that are together.

She moves Snow White and Prince Charming apart, she splits the Evil Queen from the pesky teen author and even takes the babies from their mother's arms and places them gently on the floor next to their guardians.

The last two that she separates are the newlyweds, Captain Hook and the Saviour, Emma Swan. Fiona takes great pleasure in removing the wedding bands from their fingers.

"I don't think you'll be needing these anymore," she smirks, tossing the rings elsewhere. "No one is going to celebrate any longer."

She walks up to Emma, her eyes, and body frozen in a standing position, still in her lace wedding dress.

"I am sorry that I had to do this dear Saviour," Fiona chuckles as she stands in front of the blonde woman. "But you left me no choice. I'm sure your ceremony to the one-handed pirate was lovely, but my job is to destroy happy endings, not create them."

The black hearted woman walks towards the Saviour "statue" and waves her hand, changing everyone's clothing to what she wanted. She then puts leather cuffs on all those with magic, including her son.

"I'm sorry that I have to do this," she says with forced sadness, looking into her son's dark eyes. "But the only way we can be together forever is for you to be mine."

Fiona then goes back to Emma and smiles.

"Just wait until you see what I have planned for you and your precious family,"

 _A/N:_

 _The Black Fairy is purely evil. She's going to ruin everyone's happy ending. Stay tuned for more_


	5. Chapter 4: Her Father's Message

Crystal finds herself in a field overlooking a scenic mountain scape. She's wearing a long flowing gray dress and blue velvet cloak with a hood. The breeze is blowing gently against her and the long grass rustles in response. She sees a forest nearby with tall towering trees and few birds chirp a greeting to the warm sun before flying off.

The place is incredibly beautiful that it takes her breath away. A few butterflies hover over the tall grass and sweep past her skirt. She assumes that this must be the Enchanted Forest, her real home. Where she was meant to live if her mother had not been forced to flee once she discovered her father's devious secret and his plan for their unborn child. She can see why a lot of Storybrooke residents wished to return there, it was so peaceful and picturesque to look at.

"Crystal," she hears behind her. She turns to see her father standing there, except he looks more grotesque than before. His hair is a grungy and stringy, his eyes are wider, and his skin is unusual colour, like sickly or swampy green and it sparkles in the sun. She'd seen this before and she knew that was his Dark One form, hardly flattering to him.

"Dad?" she says in confusion. "Is that you?"

"Indeed, dearie," he says in a high-pitched voice.

Crystal grimaces, knowing she hated that saying. She hadn't been aware of it at the time, but her father's voice had always been in her head. It was like her Mr. Hyde to her Dr. Jekyll, the darkness that convinced her to do bad things and more often than not, it included the word "dearie." She hated so much, she often thought of it as her trigger word, causing severe emotional distress. It made her feel uncomfortable and sent a shiver up her spine.

"Please don't use that word," she says as she goes towards her father, trying to navigate the field in her long dress.

He gives a small giggle in response. "My apologies, child."

Once she's closer, she reaches over and hugs her father tightly. She hadn't seen him in over a month and was happy to embrace him again.

"I missed you," she says quietly.

Her father awkwardly returns her hug, obviously not used to her affection for him.

"Likewise," he says.

Once they break apart Crystal takes in her father's look again. He didn't look any better up close. His hands were elongated and matched his face and his skin was wrinkled and lumpy.

"You really let yourself go when you embraced the darkness didn't you?" she says in good humour.

"Darkness hardly cares about fashion and appearance," is his response.

Crystal nods, remembering seeing pictures of Emma as the Dark One, with white hair, pale skin, and a leather outfit, it was not a pleasant sight.

"Do all Dark One's have an affinity for leather?" she asks, looking at his out fit which had a collar that made him look like a bat and the entire outfit was reminiscent of a medieval lord's outfit.

"It's functional and easier to carry around instead of wearing a dress like that," he answers.

"Where are you dad?" she asks, deciding to change the subject. "What happened?"

"Your grandmother planned to enact a curse to stop her defeat at the hands of the Saviour."

"Which was supposed to be you, but you didn't…" Crystal says angrily.

"I was never meant to be the Saviour, my mother sheared my fate so I…"

Crystal socks her father across the jaw in anger. His mouth goes open in surprise and he adjusts himself accordingly from the blow from his daughter.

"You never learn, do you?" she spits angrily

"You expect me to kill my own mother?"

"Why should it be any different from the other people you killed? You killed your father and your first wife without batting an eye. You didn't hesitate to try and kill Hook, multiple times I might add and many other innocent people along the way. You wanted to kill me by eating my heart."

Crystal knew that the last one would hurt him. He'd told her that his plan to kill her was one of his biggest regrets, or so he said. She wasn't even sure if her father felt remorse of any kind. That was the one thing she hated about her father, he always kept her guessing and never tried to appear genuine for very long.

His face grimaces slightly at that mention. Her father was selfish plain and simple, he craved power and very little else.

"What did she promise you anyways?"

"Safety from the final battle and your brother's heart back. A chance to be a real family."

"And for that you let a curse take everyone away?!" Crystal screams, tears in her eyes again. "Ruining Emma and Hook's wedding and basically taking away everything that actually meant something to you? We're your family. I'm your family, not your mother who is the source of all darkness. If there's one thing I've learned about any dark being is that they only care about themselves, everyone else is disposable. And guess what? I learned that from you!"

Crystal reaches out and slaps her father across the face again before trying to run away.

"You're a bastard and always will be. If anyone deserves to be part of the curse, it's you."

As she walks away, the demon that is her father calls out to her."

"S-She betrayed me… I confronted her in the clock tower before she unleashed the curse and she told me she was sorry. I attempted to attack her and only took off the headpiece, crushing it under my foot before the curse engulfed us all."

Crystal stops and turns back, coming to the realization that it was her father who had left the headpiece as a sort of clue for her. To give her something to work with when it came to finding those she cared about.

"Y-You're the one who left that?"

He nods and smirks slightly. "I knew in the back of my mind she had something else planned and I knew that only one would have to survive the curse for it to not completely destroy our lives. I used the last bit of magic I had before the curse consumed me to protect it and leave it for the one who was "out of town" at the time."

Crystal shakes her head. It was the way her father was, he'd totally betray people one moment and then come through some way to help the next.

"You're impossible," Crystal shakes her head, going back towards her father.

"Many have said that, including your mother."

"So now that I have the piece, what do I do now?"

"Find us," he says.

"How?"

"A locator spell perhaps?" he suggests, clasping his hands together. "If you find her, you find us."

"But I don't have any potion supplies or magic, Storybrooke is gone!"

Her father looks at her with stern eyes.

"You think that Storybrooke is the only place with magical potential?"

"You mean there are other places?" she asks, her heart beginning to race.

He gives a high-pitched giggle. "You are living proof that such power can exist anywhere, with a little bit of help from me of course."

"Follow your inbred instincts. The skills I gave to you before birth. You may ignore that voice in your head, but perhaps you should listen to it once and a while…"

Crystal swallows hard, still slightly confused, but then she feels the wind pick up and her father begins to fade into the background.

"Dad Wait!" she calls. She reaches out and grabs his arm, trying to keep him here for more information. "How do I make the potion? Where can I find you? Why would my voice know where there's magic? How will I break the curse?!"

Her father giggles again as he begins to fade away again.

"Dad please?!" she says, grasping harder as the wind continues to pick up increasingly. The sky is now graying again and the grass seems to whip around her dress and ankles, pulling at her hair and cloak.

"Both halves of you are going to help all of us. Mine and your mother's. Use mine as a guide and use hers to act. It won't be easy but I have faith in you."

"But I can't do it alone!" she cries.

"You're not alone, listen to yourself…"

"But…"

"I have to go," he says sternly. Still very confused, Crystal makes one more attempt to keep her father here before he fades away completely.

"I love you, dad, I'm sorry about before."

"No harm meant, I hope to see you soon," he gives her a half-smile before vanishing completely.

Once he's gone, the field becomes quiet again and the sun returns to the sky. Crystal is left there in confusion and still in tears.

"I will find you," she mutters to herself. "Now I have to wake up…"


	6. Chapter 5: Relive the Moment

Chapter 5: Relive that Moment

"Locals in Maine are baffled by the random and temporary wind storm that blew through upper areas. Most witnesses described it that it looked like a rainstorm, but the clouds were much, darker, thicker and seemed to sparkle with droplets of crystallized rain and it only seemed to hit a certain area of the forest…"

Crystal sighs as she heads back towards Manhattan. The least that her grandmother could've done was be discrete with her curse. The last thing any of them needed was for the human world to know about magic and the existence of fairy tale characters/ Even though it was confined to the town, it didn't mean people wouldn't see it.

She changes stations as she gets stuck in traffic while entering The Big Apple. She's still pondering the dream she'd had last night, trying to decipher what her father had told her. She wasn't sure if that really was her father at all, but he's done stranger things and Emma told her that she'd actually been able to enter Rumple's dreams and memories, so it wasn't impossible. The problems that still troubled her was that she didn't know where everyone was, he didn't exactly give a location and the then his cryptic saying for her to break the curse. He'd advised her to listen to the voice in her head to guide her to a place with magic. She was supposed to use "his" gift to find magic and then use her mother's gift to break the curse's hold over them.

Listening to her voice was the easy part, it was always there waiting and sometimes she would have conversations with it, but what was her mother's gift. Her mother was mortal after all, the magic came from her father, but what did her mother pass onto her.

She thinks about all the things her mother had given her. Crystal thought of physical features first. The blue eyes, height, the freckles and apparently, every time she smiled, her father said that was Lillian's smile. Then she examines personality traits. Lillian Miller was a quiet, patient, humble and calm woman who usually kept to herself and hid their true identities and origins from her daughter. Crystal Lillian Miller, on the other hand, could be selfish, rebellious, prone to anger, outgoing, conflicted, but also sensitive, humorous, and caring.

She thought that maybe caring was what her mother gave to her… or love. Maybe that was it! It's what broke Regina's first curse and Snow's, but this was her grandmother who had cast the curse, a woman who felt no love and wanted to destroy it. She's obviously trying to make it "love-proof" to prevent anyone who had love in their heart from breaking it, it would have to be something stronger and more difficult to figure out. It also seemed too easy. It could be much more complicated than that

Crystal groans as she continues to move at a snail's pace through traffic. She decided to worry about the first and probably the most difficult part of her father's message, finding magic in New York City. It was not going to be easy, they didn't call this "The Land Without Magic" for no reason. Her magic did work here, but it wasn't as strong nor as powerful as it could be like in Storybrooke. She'd also suppressed her magic for a long time, causing irregularities with her powers.

"Why couldn't you have just told me dad?" she mutters.

…

Once in the main part of the city, Crystal goes up to stay in her older brother's apartment. Baelfire/Neal Cassidy, the half-brother she'd never met, Emma's ex-boyfriend and Henry's father. Although they were very different from one another, she could still relate to him. Both hated their father for what he'd become and they hated magic in general. The little sister still heard stories about him and Snow and Charming's son was named after him. For some reason, her father still insisted on paying rent and keeping the tiny place, as if it would make him feel closer to his son. Like it was making up for the years of being separated from him. Rumple did stay in the place when Belle banished him over the town line and Robin Hood, Roland and Zelena, disguised as Marian, stayed there too when they left to escape the Ice Queen's magic.

The place was old and very dusty. It didn't help that it was on the rougher side of town and that she had to climb the fire escape to get inside. There were still a lot of Neal's things in it and it made Crystal feel like she was walking into someone's past. She shudders slightly as if Neal's ghost was still haunting it.

She ditches her things on the creaky bed and begins to think about her next move.

"I have to listen to the voice in my head…" she says to herself. "Alright… speak…"

Nothing happens.

She shuts her eyes and tries to concentrate a little bit harder.

Still nothing.

"What the hell?" she hisses. "For the longest time, I couldn't get you to shut the hell up and now you want to stay quiet?"

No response.

"Damn it!" Crystal snarls. "What am I supposed to do now?"

She lays back on the bed, sending clouds of dust everywhere. She tries to think back to when the voice talked to her.

It was back when she didn't know who she was as a person. It convinced her to do all sorts of terrible things like shoplift, arson, vandalism, drugs, alcohol, the list goes on and on. It was the worst part of her life and she didn't want to relive it. The voice also came when she was suppressing her magic, keeping it bottled up inside herself until it put a physical strain on her body, so much so that she had to release it. Additionally, the waves of power were often destructive and filled with dark magic. But, even now she'd get angry or not use her magic for long periods of time and the voice never came any more.

She tries to remember how she felt when that voice was in her head... She felt angry, annoyed, and conflicted…Maybe it came through her insecurities as a person, her denying who she was; that she was evil, that she hurt people and basically was having a war going on inside of her all the time. Her conscious battled this voice daily and it amazed Crystal how she never felt exhausted all the time. However, that would be hard to tap into those feelings again because now she knew who she was and accepted herself. She felt comfortable in her own skin and knew she didn't need the voice anymore.

Would she have to beg for the voice to come back?

Crystal turns over on her side and looks out the window. She sees a dreamcatcher hanging from the window. She remembers hearing her father talk about how dreamcatchers could be used to collect people's memories among other things. She slowly reaches out and grabs the fragile little thing. She'd only seen this used once, by her father for an unrelated thing.

She concentrates hard on those memories when the voice tormented her… there were a lot but the worst was when her mother confronted her one night about her behaviour and the fighting got so out of control that Crystal used her magic to…

She feels tears in her eyes and she swallows the lump in her throat. The memory was so painful, she'd killed the one person who loved her, who cared for her, who made her feel normal…

She remembered the voice being there, pushing her on to continue hurting her mother, to continue causing pain… it was her darkest moment…

 **Darkness…** was that the key. Crystals mind begins to race frantically as she connects the dots. The voice was always there in her darkest moments when she felt very low and often helpless, it would come and taunt her, hurt her, make her suffer.

So why hasn't it shown itself now, she was pretty low at this point, her home was gone and her family and friends snatched away, why hadn't it come?

 _Maybe…_ Crystal thought to herself. _I'm not there yet. I need something else._

She waves her hand over the small little circle and tries to make a connection with the thing. She sees light coming from between the strings that slowly dissolves to form a picture. She swallows again as the memory begins to play.

Coming home from the police station, the shouting at one another, the room becoming bright with light, grasping her mother, and squeezing the life out of her, the war inside her body as she refused to do what the voice told her. The destruction of her family home, the blood flowing from the wound from a weapon that she created, holding her mother and pleading for her to hold on, her last breath, watching her spirit leave her body… the feeling of being truly alone.

Devastation and agony…

As the memory ends, Crystal is crying hard; the memory was still as fresh as the day it happened and having to watch it again, just opened up the wounds again. She missed her mother a lot and wanted to do anything to bring her back. Her heart felt like it was being stomped on or crushed by the Evil Queen. Why did she do this to the woman who loved her? What drove her to kill like that? Why did she destroy her own life? Why was she reliving this excruciating moment?

 _Miss me, dearie?_


	7. Chapter 6: I Am The Darkness

Chapter 6: I Am The Darkness...

Crystal bites her lip hard and begins grinding her teeth together.

 _Did you miss me?_

"Hardly, I didn't shed a tear the first time you left."

 _Then why am I back?_

"Because I need your help…"

 _My help? My, my, my, you have changed…_

"Before we go any further, I will make it clear, this is **temporary**. I need you to complete a task and that's it. If you stay a second longer…" Crystal stops realizing that she's making an empty threat.

The voice chuckles, the high-pitched giggle her father gave in his dream.

 _Hard to threaten something that doesn't fear you?_

"I got rid of you once, I'll do it again," she hisses.

 _You can't get rid of something that is a part of you…_

"Then why have you become an Avox for the past few years?"

 _That's for me to know and you to find out_

"I will find out if it means getting rid of you permanently."

 _So scary,_ the voice taunts.

"Let's cut the crap, I need you to help me find magic."

 _Magic? What am I, Merlin?_

"No, you're a manifestation of my father's dark side that's tormented me since I was a child."

 _I thought your father was all dark side_ , it snickers.

"He's mostly dark, but he has love in his heart, even the darkest people have felt love at one point."

 _How can you be sure?_

"He sent me a message in my dreams and he managed to save the one thing that can lead me to the Black Fairy."

 _Ah yes, the beaded headpiece_

"How do you know that?" Crystal swallows.

The voice chuckles again. _You talk to me as if I've gone on vacation or something. You also think that I am a separate individual from you. As if I'm something you can get rid of. The truth is, I never left…_

"I wish you did," Crystal mutters

 _Whether you like it or not, dearie. I have been, am and always will be a part of you. I am the darkness that exists in the minds of all people. I am not one person, I exist across the spectrum of the human psyche…_

"You stole that from the _Scream_ movies," Crystal scoffs, rolling her eyes.

 _It's the simplest explanation that I can come up with to help you understand. I am not a thing, I am an idea, too complex for even the brightest minds to comprehend. No human can grasp the concept fully and sometimes it feels like I can't grasp it myself and I'm merely an entity. In the simplest terms. I am your dark side, I am Emma Swan's dark side, I am Regina Mills' dark side, I am Captain Hook's dark side, I am your father's… the only difference is, I've never had a true form with you. I am the metaphorical devil on your left shoulder, I'm the alternative conscious we all have. I…_

"I got it," Crystal says, "Can we please move on from this?"

 _As you wish…_

"Okay so basically, my grandmother, who you probably came from, has cast another curse and she's taken everyone I love. My father told me that I would have to break this curse by using the two halves of myself, one of them being you."

 _Interesting…_

"I need to find magic in order to create a locator spell to locate the Black Fairy and then find a way to break the curse."

 _Easier said than done,_

"Don't you think I know that?!" Crystal hisses angrily. "The problem is, I'm in The Land Without Magic, but my dad says that there is some here, in New York and apparently, you are going to help me find it."

 _Me? Really?_

"Yes, so let's get started," she says, springing up from the bed.

 _Hold on, you think it's going to be that easy?_

"The longer I wait, the harder it will be to break the curse and find everyone."

 _I understand the urgency, but magic cannot simply be found. It must be searched for. It will reveal itself to those who are worthy._

"All about worthiness huh? Do you think it's worthy that my cause is to rescue my family and friends from my grandmother's grasp?"

 _It seems quite worthy, yet it's usually more complicated than that._

"It always is, isn't it?" Crystal sighs, she hops out the apartment window onto the fire escape and watches the people of New York go about their daily lives. The sun is beginning to sink behind the buildings, indicating its late afternoon. She starts thinking about her family again, everyone she cares about. Her dad, her brother, her step-mom, Emma, Hook, Henry, Regina, David, Snow, Baby Neal and Robin, Zelena, even Grumpy and Granny. Everyone she loves and everyone who cared about her in return, are in danger.

"What the hell can I do then?"

 _Your father said to listen to me and I say you should go to a place where you can gain knowledge of all kinds…_

"You mean like the library?"

 _Perhaps…_

"How is that going to help me?"

 _We're all from fairy tales are we not? I'd say that's a good place to start._

"Fine, but if we end up on a wild goose chase, I will be suppressing you so hard, you're going to feel the pain."

The voice chuckles again. Crystal gets her things together and zips up her jacket before scaling back down the fire escape. She decides to take a cab instead of trying to drive. She desperately wishes she could teleport there, but the last thing she needs is a riot in the middle of Times Square.

…

After grabbing a bite to eat, Crystal walks up the steps of New York's Public Library.

 _Okay_ , she thinks to herself, knowing that talking aloud would make her look insane to the people around her. _Now what?_

 _The fantasy and fairy tale section might be a good start._

Crystal sighs and begins the trek all the way through to the fantasy section. It looks like the library is starting to clear out since it's close to closing time. She spies a few university and college students doing some studying with their headphones in and their noses in books. For a moment, she longs to be one of them, worrying about finals instead of saving their entire fairy tale realm. In comparison, finals were a breeze.

Once, she's there, she shrugs her shoulder.

 _Now what?_

 _You tell me, is a book the only place you can gain knowledge._

 _This isn't the time to be cryptic, we're racing against the clock here!_

 _Understood. Tell me, what's in this section besides books?_

Crystal begins to look around, there aren't any people in the area, there are a few paintings on the walls, alphabetical labels for the shelves and some glass cases with sculptures inside of them except…

Her heart drops as she sees that one of them has been smashed. There was tape around it to prevent anyone from going near the broken glass. As she get's closer, she reads the label.

 ** _Artist's Version of Holy Grail for Knowledge_**

The Holy Grail? That was real and it did have magical potential. She suddenly remembers the story that Emma and Regina had told her a few months back about how Henry and Violet escaped to New York, Henry was on a quest to destroy magic because it destroyed his family and he took off with a replica of the…

 _The Holy Grail!_ Crystal wants to shout out. _That was the one Henry stole. But, it's gone, what use is it now._

 _Many objects with magical potential leave behind residue or a trail…_

 _So, if I find a trail, it could lead me to magic?_

 _Perhaps… they also tend to go towards a source of magic too._

Crystal gets a little bit closer to examine the case more carefully. She looks for anything like a glittering trail of pixie dust or maybe an arrow or something similar. Instead, all she sees is a broken case that the library has not gotten around to repairing.

She sighs again… She doesn't see the magic, but then again… magic cannot be seen by regular humans. It also had to be a "worthy" cause.

"I want to find my family," she whispers to herself.

Crystal lets her "special" vision take over. The one that helps her detect magic in other people and reveal their true identities to her. It's how she found out who everyone in Storybrooke was, it also helped her control her powers and recognize magical potential on other people. It had been useful before, and it would be useful now.

To her amazement, she sees a golden trail of magic that goes behind her and out of the library. Her heart pounds in excitement and relief, finally she was getting somewhere.

"Guide me," she whispers, feeling tears come to her eyes.

She exits the massive building, following the trail of magic. Her vision allows her to see through all the other people around, the thing is, however, to her they are just black masses with glowing hearts. They don't have any magical potential, but being able to see the pedestrians allows her to avoid them as she continues following the trail.

The entire world becomes a blur as Crystal picks up her pace, trying to find where the source of magic was. She walks along multiple streets, down several alleyways and even hops a fence.

Eventually, the trail of golden magic ends at the door of an old shop in a very run down neighbourhood. There is a large window displaying all sorts of odd looking things, including a knight's helmet, thick dusty books, a skull with the crown sawn off so it looks like a bowl and a stuffed raven. As she gets closer, Crystal begins to hear whispers. They are very faint and soft, unlike the voice in her head. She'd experienced this before at her father's shop, looking through all the magical items. Each one had magic and each one had a story to tell.

Crystal looks up to see what this place is.

In big neon letters, the sign reads,

 ** _Mr. Morrible's House of Antiques_**

And the sign posted in the window says,

 ** _Believe in the Unbelievable_**


	8. Chapter 7: Sight As Needed

Chapter 7: Sight as Needed

Crystal peers inside the large window, hearing all the voices inside. She lets her vision take over and it was clear to her that this place was filled with magical potential. This was exactly like her father's shop back when Storybrooke still existed.

"Thanks for your help," Crystal says. "Just be quiet for a little while so I can find a way in."

 _The politeness is a nice change_

"Don't get used to it. I have hope now, I'm no longer in a dark place."

 _Matter of opinion really, you still have lots to do._

"Don't remind me," she hisses as she goes up the steps to the front door. The problem is, the store is closed for the night.

"Damn it!" she says to herself. She even tries the door, hoping the owner left it unlocked, but no such luck. She walks around and tries the back door, but it too is locked up. She stands back to see if there are any windows open to try and get the owner's attention, but that's strike three and she's out of options.

 _You're not quite out of options yet…_

"What do you mean?" Crystal asks.

 _You do have magic, you could use it to unlock the door._

Crystal's stomach twists. "You mean to break in?" She swallows a big lump in her throat. She starts having flashbacks to her early teen years, where she was breaking into places all the time to find money or any valuables she could sell. She often did this with the local gang, thinking that they were her friends and what she was doing was "cool." It was part of the darkest time in her life and none of it made her feel proud.

"No…, " she says, shaking her head. "I promised myself that I wouldn't go back to crime. Not after what I did to my mom."

 _It's not really a crime if it's an emergency, is it? Your family needs you don't forget. The clock is ticking, I'm sure The Black Fairy probably wants the curse to become permanent very soon._

"I know, I know but it doesn't make it right!" Crystal insists. Her eyes are filling with tears as she sits down on the front steps of the shop. She wants to save her family, but breaking into someone's shop for magical aid doesn't seem right. Especially if she's caught and has to explain that she broke in for magical items, no one would believe her and she'd be locked up in an asylum.

She feels like she did all those years ago, rebelling against her mother and the law. She feels conflicted and afraid. The voice in her head is tempting her, trying to get her to give into the darkness again. She wasn't that person anymore, but her family needed her. She had to break this curse.

Crystal suddenly hears a noise behind her and she sees that the door is slowly opening on its own.

"How… How… it was locked before?!"

 _Perhaps you were mistaken the first time. At least now your conscious won't bother you when you enter to get what you need._

"It's still trespassing."

 _You and your moral compass! Once and a while you will have to break the rules. Not everything is black and white! If you're doing it for the right reasons, it's not wrong anymore!_

"That's a first out of you. You actually want me to do the right thing?!"

 _When people change, so does their mindset._

"But you're still the darkness in my mind, darkness isn't supposed to change."

 _Darkness is always shifting, like the clouds in the sky, nothing stays permanent._

Crystal sighs, thinking about her family and friends. What kind of danger might they be in? Trapped in a timeless oblivion where everyone slowly loses their minds? Or maybe they're in some hellish purgatory like the Underworld? Or maybe they're all prisoners in the Dark Realm. With her grandmother, it's hard to tell. She takes a deep breath before standing up and slowly pushing the door open a little more so she can slip in. She shuts it as quietly as she can but does not lock it in case she needs to make a getaway.

The smell of the place is overwhelming. It smells of mold, dust, mothballs and furniture polish. The hardwood floors creak under her weight, so Crystal steps very slowly to minimize the noise. The entire place is stacked high with artifacts of all shapes and sizes. It's hard to identify what the objects are in the gloom, but the light of the neon sign outside casts sharp shadows on the walls. There are shelves and shelves of old objects and instruments that are piled on the floor. Crystal stubs her toe on a few things while trying to navigate the maze of antiques. She wants to conjure an orb to light up the area, but the risk of getting caught is too great. The voices she heard earlier are stronger than ever, they sound almost like a choir of whispers. Everything is muttering, beckoning for her to pick them up and use them. It reminds her of her father's shop, only it's much bigger and more spacious. Her curiosity is tempting her to pick up something, but she must stay focused, come for what she needs.

What she needs is a spell or potions book for making either a Locator spell or potion. Either one will lead her to her grandmother and hopefully her family.

She peers down each aisle, swallowing any fear she might have, in search of books. On the left side of the shop, along the wall, is a vast array of books shelved high in the building. Crystal hurries over and squints in the darkness, trying to read the titles, but the shadows and the darkness of the night make it impossible.

"I guess I'm going to need assistance."

She conjures up a small orb of purple light.

"Keep it dim," she whispers. The orb hovers just above her head as she begins scanning the shelves and stacks for any spell books.

" _How to Navigate a Labyrinth_ , _Where Wild Things Go_ ," she whispers quietly, putting her finger over each book spine she finds. " _Iron to Gold_ … _How to Create Fireballs From Scratch_ …"

"Perhaps this would provide better light!"

Crystal turns around in horror, her heart stopping instantly. She sees an old man with a lantern hovering on the opposite end of the book shelves. He appears to have wide unblinking eyes and the edges of his face are sharply contrasted from the light of the lantern. She screams in utter horror and instinctively lets out a blast of magic in self-defense. She sees several objects go clattering to the floor and books fly off the shelves. The man steps back in utter surprise as the objects begin to swirl around him without any explanation. Immediately, Crystal turns around and tries to run for the door. She bumps into a few things, ignoring the pain and feeling around for the door. Her hands are shaking as she tries to grasp the brass doorknob.

To her horror, it's locked!

"No, no, no, no, NO!" she shouts. She twists the knob as hard as she can, but the door won't budge. She's about ready to break the window with her magic when the shop is suddenly flooded with light.

Blinking anxiously, Crystal can see the man coming up one of the aisles towards her. She now sees that he's wearing very thick glasses, making him look like an owl. He has a long white beard and white hair that sticks out at all angles around his head. He's dressed in a wrinkly white shirt that is covered in various substances and a brown leather apron in front of dark gray pants. He wears old leather shoes that cause the floor to squeak as he comes closer. Not knowing what else to do, Crystal holds her hands out, prepared to defend herself.

"Don't come any closer!" she warns.

The man stops at the edge of the aisle.

Crystal is crying and panting, her anxiety hitting overdrive. She can see that the man is not armed with anything and he doesn't appear angry. He looks at her curiously behind the thick spectacles.

"P-Please let me go!" she squeaks. "I-I'm sorry I came in. It's just that... I got lost and the door was open and I…"

She tries the knob again, twisting as hard as she can.

"It won't open up now," the old man says. His voice is very hoarse and rough. Crystal can tell he must be very old for it seems like the years and years of speaking has worn his voice out. She's still shaking slightly.

"W-Why not?" she asks.

"Because you do not have what you need. You cannot go until you are satisfied"

She looks at him in confusion. She's worried this might be a kidnap attempt. "I-I don't understand."

"I'm surprised you even found my shop."

"W-What do you mean? It has a giant neon sigh out front"

The man tilts his head and then bites his very chapped lips.

"My shop…" he begins. "Can only be seen by people who need it most and by those who are not from this realm originally."

Crystal swallows, trying to decipher the man's words. They sounded very confusing and at first, she thought he was saying that the only people who can see his shop are aliens. But the word realm stands out to her. Could he be talking about the realms that she knew about?

"How do you mean?" she whispers.

"What I mean is, my shop only appears and opens to people who understand things that no normal human can comprehend. The believe in something much greater and are aware of the many worlds outside this one, which has very little magic of its own."

Crystal's jaw drops. She's not sure if the man is speaking the truth, a normal person would call him insane, but she wasn't normal. She was the daughter of Rumpelstiltskin for God's sake. She decides to test him to see if they were on the same page.

"You mean like, a Land Without Magic?"

The man's glasses shine brightly for a moment before the two lock eyes again. He has dark gray eyes surrounded by many, many wrinkles. As she looks at them, she perceives a man who has seen more than any normal person would. She lets her vision take over for a few moments. His human shape is gray and it looks like clouds are swirling within it. His glowing heart beats rather slowly, indicating his age and what sets him apart from other human shapes is that she can actually see where his eyes are. His eyes glow a very bright blue and seem to stare at her. She swallows and takes a step back.

"In a way," the man says, nodding. He adjusts his glasses carefully.

"Are… Are you Mr. Morrible?"

"I am what I am, not what I am not," is the answer. The man takes a step closer to her and he peers very hard at her from under his glasses, as if she's a sort of difficult puzzle. Crystal feels very uncomfortable, wanting to leave, but at the same time, fascinated.

"You, my child, with a name of clarity, possess a great power that only the Darkest and Lightest can see. You are shaken in spirit, Rumple is his name."

Crystal nearly collapses in shock. This man just guessed her name, knew about her powers, and named her father in one go. Her heartbeat is hitting overdrive in fear, but also anticipation. Her head is spinning in confusion. This was the man she needed to see. He will help her find her family.

"How… How do you know that?"

"I see things beyond human understanding. I can see, much like you can, who a person really is, the difference between us is mine is not as strong."

Her jaw remains open in shock.

"My shop is only ever opened up to someone with love and nobility in their heart."

"M-My heart is far from perfect."

"I know it is, but my door was opened to you because you seek to find those you love. To defeat a very dark entity."

"I do," she swallows, slowly gathering her bearings again. "I need to rescue my family."

The man gives her a small smile.

"Well, you won't find answers standing around like this. You need a book and I can help you find it."

 _A/N: Hope you like this new character. His appearance is loosely based on Owl Eyes from The Great Gatsby. He's going to help Crystal a lot. Please follow and review._


	9. Chapter 8: Now or Never

The man begins searching the book shelves on the far end of the store while Crystal watches a little weary and very confused.

"Come along now child, the book won't find itself," the man says.

"Before we go any further, I need some answers. Who are you?"

"I don't usually go by names, but for the time being, you can call be Argus. Argus Morrible."

"Are you... are you from the Enchanted Forest?"

"I've been there."

Crystal rolls her eyes. "Can we please keep the cryptic language to a minimum? My family is in grave danger."

"Ah yes, the beings from Storybrooke, Maine correct?"

Crystal steps back, still very stunned by this man's vast knowledge of their world. "Y-Yes,"

"The Black Fairy has made an appearance in this realm, hasn't she? She also happens to be your grandmother, yes?"

Crystal just nods. It's as if this man has had a front row seat to her life. "Yes, and my father is..."

"Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark One."

"Yes," she sighs, it's clear she doesn't have to explain very much to this man. "How do you know so much?"

"That is my gift," Argus explains. He begins walking towards the back of the shop, Crystal following him as he goes. "I am a seer, one of the last I'm afraid. I'm also a collector, much like your father is. My purpose in life is to be able to see someone for who they really are and observe all the beings that encircle the realms. I can identify a hero from a coward, a monster from a fairy, a warrior from a peacekeeper. I also gather as many magical objects from all over the various realms that exist and experience as much as possible. It's how I gain my knowledge of the worlds that exist." He finally sits down behind the counter.

"Well, I guess that can explain your glasses," Crystal mutters.

"If that helps you understand it better than yes. I've spent many centuries traveling from every known world, magical or not, gathering great insight and possessions that can one day be used again."

"Can you see the future?"

"Much like Merlin could yes, but only small fragments of it. They come and go much like the winds and tides."

"Do you know who wins the Final Battle?" she asks, her heart pounding anxiously. She knew all about Emma's foretold future of being slain by a hooded figure, a figure who turned out to be her brother. However, Emma had defeated him twice in combat and once his heart was restored, her brother became normal again... or so she'd heard. She still knew the Final Battle was coming and her grandmother was the source of everything.

Argus takes off his thick glasses and rubs his eyes very gently, massaging the many wrinkles around them. He lets out a deep sigh. "That my dear, I cannot see... The future is so covered in a darkness that not even I can see through it."

Crystal's heart sinks into her stomach, very disappointed. She wanted to be able to tell Emma that she could enjoy her happy married life knowing that she'd win the battle against darkness. "Do you at least know where my family is?"

Mr. Morrible sighs again before reaching behind the counter and bringing out a large crystal ball. He sets it in front of both of them. She can see thick white mist swirling around inside the large clear sphere.

"So, these things really can see the future?" she says, rather impressed.

"Again, only bits and piece, but it can also locate the things you most desire, in this case, your family. However, it cannot give you their exact location, that is what the locator potion is for. But for me to find those you care about, I need an object that is a symbol of love."

Immediately, the girl whips out her golden locket. A gift that her father gave to her mother after they met. It was a symbol of great love between the two of them and Crystal knew that it would work.

She hands it to the seer. He takes out a vial of dark purple liquid and a small plate. He allows a few drops to pool on the plate before he scrapes off a single gold flake from the locket. The flake mixes with the liquid, creating a gold and pink mixture.

"This certainly is a symbol of love, very strong love too." For a second, she's worried he might want her locket for his collection, but he hands it back to her without hesitation.

He then pours the mixture onto the crystal ball. The clouds inside the ball begin to swirl faster and faster, changing and becoming the same colour as the liquid. Crystal leans in carefully, squinting hard, waiting for an image to appear.

Mr. Morrible stands back and waves his hand over the ball twice before Crystal can see the faint outlines of people beginning to form. Her heart beats quickly and she can feel tears coming to her eyes. Eventually, the clouds form into a room, acting out a scene, like the dream catchers. She can see Emma and Henry, along with Hook and her father. They're all frozen, like statues, scattered throughout a large room.

"Emma!" she calls out as if they can hear her. "Killian! Henry!" Soon Snow and David appear. "Snow! Regina! Dad!"

Suddenly, a dark figure looms into the scene. Crystal immediately realizes that this must be her grandmother. She wears a dark pantsuit and very high heels. She has long raven black hair pulled back into a modest ponytail and very dark eyes. She doesn't look anything like her father, or anyone else for that matter and that relieves her. The Black Fairy is walking between the frozen figures of her family, she's talking to them, but there is no sound that comes from her lips and at one point, cups Killian's chin.

"Get your hands off him!" she hisses. She watches as her grandmother levitates Zelena and Granny away. "Leave them alone you witch! Leave them...!" She picks up the statues of Baby Neal and Robin and walks out of the scene.

The clouds suddenly dissolve the picture.

"No!" Crystal shrieks. "Bring them back, bring them back!" She picks up the crystal ball in a frenzy and begins to shake it. Tears are pouring down her face.

"Be careful," Argus says, finally managing to get the crystal sphere from her.

"Give it back!" Crystal shouts. Her hands begin to glow and the lights around them flicker as her powers become less controllable.

"They cannot hear you," Mr. Morrible says, putting the crystal ball away.

Crystal begins to shout obscenities at him and the entire shop shakes from her anger. She tries to go around and grab the sphere again. Argus stands between her and the counter. "Get out of my way!"

"Calm yourself child!" he barks at her in a loud booming voice. This outburst actually scares her into taking a step back. She blinks, realizing what she's doing. She's acting like a child and if her powers got out of control, she might destroy the shop and everything in it, ruining her chances of finding her family.

She takes in a deep breath and calms her body a little bit. The lights stop flickering and her hands stop glowing. She takes a seat on a wooden stool to clear her head and become calm again. She wipes her eyes and allows herself to stop shaking.

"I'm so sorry," she whispers. "For everything that I said and for my powers..."

Mr. Morrible's spectacles shine down on the helpless figure, his eyes squinting down at her with concern, but also sympathy. The poor girl was going through a lot, losing her home and her family with one dark curse and now that she had just got a glimpse of her family, her emotions and powers came to the surface.

"It's alright, child," he says, offering her a handkerchief. Crystal blows her nose and wipes her eyes before standing up again. "I understand that this is extremely hard for you, but you must remember to keep those emotions in check if you want to succeed in saving your family."

She nods sadly. "At least I know they're okay. That she's not torturing them. And I know that they are not in the Enchanted Forest. I saw my grandmother in modern clothing and the building looked very modern as well."

"That is a good start."

"But they weren't moving, they were frozen. And the Black Fairy needs them for something..."

"Something indeed, she will likely want to make the curse permanent as well when the time comes."

Crystal's heart races and she swallows when she says that. "How... How do you know?"

"I sensed great darkness when she appeared in the globe. Remember that she is the darkest being in all the realms and she will likely want to ensure that her curse stays indefinitely."

"How do I stop it then?"

"By using the gifts that your father and mother gave you."

Crystal nearly faints when he says that.

"T-That's e-exactly what my father said to me in my dream."

"Ah, your father is as wise as he is dark. He understands the workings of many things and he knows that it will only take one person to break the curse."

"M-Me?"

Argus nods.

"But I'm not a Saviour, Emma is!"

"You don't have to be a Saviour to be a hero..."

"But why me though? Why was I spared?"

"That, I'm afraid I cannot answer. You will likely have to find that out for yourself. In the mean time..."

The withered old man goes behind the counter again and brings out a large, thick black book. The title is almost completely faded away from use.

"I almost forgot that I was using this a few days ago..."

"Are you a wizard too?" she asks.

"No, but I am an alchemist. Do you know what that is?"

"Yes, like Nicholas Flamel, you change lead into gold and found ways to become immortal."

"You are a smart child. I'm glad at least one of my former pseudonyms still remains," Argus says with a twinkle in his eye.

Crystal's eyes go wide in wonder. Her mind begins filling with questions again, but she knew time was of the essence. There were some things that just needed to remain a mystery. Her family needed her and it was now or never.

Argus opens the book to the page which reads Locator spell.

"The ingredients we need are the moss from the north side of a tree, a stone as white as the moon, the feather of an owl, a fleck of purified gold..."


	10. Chapter 9: Finding a Way

Chapter 9: Finding a Way

"You'd think finding ingredients would be easier than this," Crystal sighs as she peels moss off a tree in Central Park. She had to make sure she had a compass with her to ensure the moss came from the north side of the tree.

She then teleports back to Mr. Morrible's shop.

"Will this be enough?" she asks.

Argus Morrible is in the back room with a cauldron bubbling. He has an assortment of ingredients laid out on the table. The book is floating in mid-air, something that Crystal wanted to question, but thought better of it.

"It will indeed," he smiles, wiping the steam accumulating on his glasses. He grinds the moss into a fine powder and then sprinkles it into the cauldron. "And now we need the feather of an owl and the lens of a telescope…"

"Please don't tell me I have to go to a bird sanctuary," Crystal sighs. She's already been teleporting around for various ingredients including the moss, a stone as white of the moon which she had to find in a quarry, a drop of purified water and a conch shell, plus she had to teleport back home to get her car and other things and bring them to the other side of town in preparation for using the potion and locating her grandmother.

"No, there's a stuffed owl out on one of the shelves. He was once a companion of Merlin before his death. Merlin preserved his body and allowed me to keep it as part of my collection. Just pluck a feather from that. And there are extra telescope lenses behind the counter."

The female shudders, having always been uncomfortable about people keeping things after death, especially taxidermic animals. It's what made Norman Bates in _Psycho_ so creepy. She finds the owl on one of the front shelves, with its head cocked at a 90-degree angle, staring at her with those dead lifeless eyes. She winces as she plucks a feather from his tail and then fishes out a telescope lens before going back to Mr. Morrible.

"The last thing we need is a drop of blood…"

Crystal's face contorts in disgust.

"More specifically if you want to find a dark entity, someone who has walked in the shadows and given into their inner darkness before."

"So basically me," she says.

"You are the Dark One's daughter after all," Argus says. "And the connection will be strengthened with the Black Fairy being your grandmother." He hands her a needle to prick her finger with.

"Why do I feel like Aurora?" she mutters.

She pricks her finger with the needle until she draws blood and allows one drop to fall into the boiling cauldron. The aged man stirs the concoction three times and the boiling liquid turns a light blue colour. Mr. Morrible then grabs an empty vial from one of his cupboards and scoops the potion into it. Once it's filled, he puts a cork on it and hands it to Crystal.

"I'd like to test it first before you go and find your family."

"How?"

"Perhaps I can borrow your locket for it. You go out into the back alleyway and I will apply some of the potion and come to find you."

"All right," she nods, removing her mother's necklace again. She hands it to the bespectacled man and then goes out the back door of the store. She walks along the back fences and into a nearby alleyway. She then waits for Mr. Morrible to find her.

Sure enough, within a few minutes, her golden locket turns a corner, floating in mid-air and lands at her feet, the seer right behind it. Crystal picks it up and puts it back on.

"An excellent test," the old man smiles.

Crystal then fishes her grandmother's beaded headpiece from her pocket. "Will it work for long distances?" she asks.

"If it seems to be becoming weak, just apply a few more drops and it will continue,"

Crystal then follows the old man back into his shop. They go to the door and this time it opens. The girl turns to the man and smiles. "I can't thank you enough," she says. "I wish I could repay you…" Her voice suddenly trails off. "Hold that thought,"

She rushes out to her car and grabs the bag filled with the black curse dust. She hands it to him.

"What is this?"

"Remnants of her curse, I managed to grab a handful back in Storybrooke. I thought it might be useful. And since you like to collect things." Crystal suddenly has a brain storm. "Do you think you could make a cure for the curse from it?"

"Perhaps, but why?"

She swallows. "Just in case I can't break the curse…"

"Your lack of confidence is slightly concerning,"

"It's just that… I'm not a Saviour and I never will be. I was basically a mistake between the Dark One and a poor Miller's daughter. I don't know why me, of all people, will be able to break the curse's hold. I know I can use my dad's magic to help me, but I'm not sure what gift my mom gave me that can save everyone"

Mr. Morrible peers down at her through his thick glasses. He squints very carefully at her.

"I'm afraid that's something you'll have to figure out on your own, but you have to have faith, my child. That's what drives any journey. You must have faith that you will succeed. It's gotten you this, far hasn't it?"

Crystal smiles. "I guess I'm just a bit nervous and scared. In order to find you, I had to relive my darkest moment and my deepest regret to be guided by the voice in my head. I guess my confidence is a little shaken."

Argus Morrible puts his hand on her shoulder. "Every hero has his or her doubts in a moment of high stress, but I have great faith in you, child. You've struggled, but you have also prevailed. I cannot say for certain, but I am confident that you will prevail."

Crystal embraces the old man tightly. "Thank you for everything."

"Oh, that reminds me, I have something to give to you." He reaches into the pocket of his leather apron and removes a small crystal ball. He hands it to her.

"What will this do?" she asks.

"It is your way of communicating with me. If you ever need any assistance, just say my name three times and I will answer.

"So, you're kind of like Beetlejuice?" she smirks.

The man smirks at her and nods.

"I'm glad, the last thing I need is Michael Keaton showing up in the middle of a battle."

Mr. Morrible pats the girl on the back and she climbs into her car. She waves at him through her window, before pulling out the vial of potion. She grabs the beaded headpiece and applies a drop to it.

Almost immediately, the piece of jewelry leaps up and begins floating in mid-air. Crystal opens her window and casts a camouflage spell so no one else can see it. She then lets her vision take over so she can see. The now enchanted object begins floating north, towards 5th Avenue, Crystal starts up her car and gives one last look at the shop. To her surprise, the only thing there is a brick wall between two condemned apartments. A shiver goes up against her spine, but then she smiles, looking at the crystal ball on her seat before following the headpiece to find her grandmother.


	11. Chapter 10: A Flair and a Plea

Chapter 10: A Flair and a Plea

"How far did this curse take you, Grandma?" Crystal moans as she grabs the headpiece out of thin air and puts it into her car.

It had been hours since she'd left Mr. Morrible and she was traveling along the countryside after endless hours of traffic on the main streets of New York. She finally stopped at a diner and gas station to refuel and hydrate. She left all her belongings in the car as she went to get something to eat.

Once in a booth by herself, Crystal finds it hard to keep her eyes open.

"What'll you have darling?" the skinny waitress with the nametag _Megan_ asks.

"A coffee and a burger and fries please," she says.

"Coming right up," the woman says before leaving Crystal alone again with her thoughts.

How far was her grandmother willing to go to destroy everyone's happy endings? It certainly wasn't in the Enchanted Forest, or New York, or even Wonderland. The beaded headpiece had to have the potion re-applied a few times, which was not always easy when you're in the middle of a traffic jam. The poor girl had become exhausted in the process, her entire body worn out and she wasn't even sure the last time she'd slept. She knew this wasn't healthy, but her family needed her.

"Here you go honey," the waitress says, pouring her a mug of hot black coffee. "You look awful tired."

"Long road trip," she explains. "Going to visit family."

"Well don't burn the candle at both ends sweetie," Megan says. "If you want there's a local motel a couple miles up the street you can crash at."

"Thanks…" Crystal says quietly.

She then lays her head down on the table for a few moments to rest. Her head is throbbing and her body is weak. The things she did to save those she loved. She doesn't move from this position until Megan shakes her arm to give her the food.

"Thank you," she says.

Crystal begins eating. The burger was okay, but still not as good and Granny's. The more she thought about her family, the more she missed Storybrooke. She felt so lost and still wondered why of all people she was the one to be saved. She wasn't any closer to figuring out how to break her grandmother's curse.

Her eyes then wander to one of the TV screens above the diner counter.

Her heart drops when she sees a familiar face flash on the screen. It's Snow! She must blink a few times to make sure she's not hallucinating.

Crystal nearly chokes on her food and stands up. "Can you turn it up please?"

Megan fumbles to find the remote and Crystal walks to the TV to hear better.

"Come and see your favourite fairy tales come to life like you've never seen them before…" the voice on the TV says.

Crystal's jaw is on the floor. She sees Snow lying in a glass coffin, dressed in a silver fairy tale dress, under a sleeping curse, just like what happened in the Enchanted Forest. She's laying against the backdrop of a forest scene and as the camera pulls out, she sees David on a horse, dressed as Prince Charming again. The girl pinches herself to ensure she's not dreaming.

"Very little Disney here," it continues. The commercial transitions to Regina, also frozen like a statue, gazing in front of a glowing mirror. Then she sees Marco, August as a child again and Archie in another tableau. More familiar people are shown on screen, some who weren't in Storybrooke anymore. Crystal recognizes Elsa and Anna, as well as Merida and even Aladdin and Jasmine. They were supposed to be all back in their own realms, until now.

Crystal's heart is banging against her chest, threatening to break her rib cage. She's trying not to cry as the TV continues to advertise this new museum.

"Come one, come all, all your childhood dreams will come true, it includes your favourites from your childhood and the ones of your children now. We have the new _Frozen_ and _Brave_ sections for young minds to explore. Coming soon will be the Camelot display. Come battle fearsome dragons, fight with scurvy pirates…" Killian is shown on screen and Crystal can see his lifeless eyes and stiff stature. She wants to scream out but bites her lip.

"Dance with your favourite princesses and re-live those dreams. This life-sized wax figures have been made with the greatest of care and are meant to be the most realistic characters you'll ever see. Join your tour guide, Fiona Blackwell as she takes you through the wondrous tales you all know and love. Some like you've never seen them before. The _Fairy Tale_ exhibit now open in downtown Boston. Bring the whole family…

An image of her grandmother flashes on the screen, she's smiling a winning smile and waving to everyone. She holds the hand of a small child and then puts a tiara on the child's head.

"I'm Fiona Blackwell and your child will have an amazing time at this exhibit, where everyone gets to have their happy endings."

The girl gives her wicked grandmother a hug before the commercial ends.

"Wow, that looks pretty great," Megan says. "I should bring my kids to that. They'd be so pleased. It's like a mini Disney world."

 _Yeah, except all of the statues are real human beings enslaved under an evil woman_ , Crystal thinks to herself.

Crystal's stomach drops. She cannot believe what she's just seen. Her grandmother has put everyone she loves on display, like circus performers. They are all under this curse and being exploited for who they are. It was a silent plea for help. Plus, the wicked Black Fairy was making money off of it all. How this would destroy everyone's happy endings, she couldn't tell, but clearly, she's been visiting other realms as well, putting others under her curse. What made everything even more disgusting was her grandmother was interacting with a child. After what she'd done to Gideon, the last thing parents should be doing is letting their children near the black hearted woman.

 _At least now I know where you are_ , she thinks to herself. _Grandma certainly loves to show off._ Her heart is racing with excitement and anticipation. She had to get there as soon as possible. She copies the address down on a napkin. She races back to her booth and types the address into her phone. She knows she could keep using the locator potion, but this was less likely to be seen by other people and made her seem normal. The girl then eats the rest of her food quickly and downs her coffee in one go. She races up to the counter to pay.

"Whoa, slow down darling, where's the fire?"

"Family emergency," she lies smoothly. Even though it wasn't technically a lie. Her family was in danger, grave danger. "Got to get gas and get going."

"Well don't push yourself too hard. Drive safe now," Megan says handing her the change.

"Thank you, I will," Crystal says before going back to her car. She fills it up very quickly and grabs a _Red Bull_ for the road.

She is fully awake now, glad that her grandmother had a flair for the dramatic and wanted to exploit her prisoners. Crystal begins speeding down the road into the country, heading for the state border.

Her destination: Boston, Massachusetts.


	12. Chapter 11: Journey Into The Story

Chapter 11: Journey Into the Story

"I wish Emma still had her apartment," Crystal sighs as she finally pulls into Boston. The last thing she wanted was to sleep in a crappy motel again. She understood why the Saviour liked the city so much, it is beautiful, but nothing really compared to Storybrooke in her opinion. She always preferred nature and small towns. Her mother had raised her as such. Crystal wondered if this was because her mother had grown up in a big kingdom and at one point was the queen of said kingdom. It must've been too much for her so Lillian Miller preferred the smaller towns and areas.

Her entire body aches from almost pure exhaustion. Three Red Bull cans scatter the floor of her car. She pushed herself to the almost limit to try and make it to Boston, to find the location to save her family, but now her body was running purely on borrowed energy.

 _You should really rest,_ the voice says. Crystal had been so hellbent on getting to Boston she forgot about her unfortunate hitchhiker.

"I really wish you'd shut up," she responds. "I don't need you now."

 _Perhaps you will but you don't know it yet, but even I am tired and that's saying something considering I have no physical form to speak of..._

"I have to find my family. They need me…"

 _And you'll also have to battle your grandmother, how can you do that when you've had so little sleep?_

Crystal groans. She knows the voice is right. She hates it when it's right.

"Fine, but I won't sleep longer than I have to."

 _Fair enough…_

She finally pulls into a small motel. She pockets the address her grandmother's commercial showed her and checks in.

Once her face hits the pillow, she's out, without even taking her clothes off.

…

"You've accomplished much dearie," her father says, reappearing in her dream. They are back in the exact same field in the exact same location.

Crystal rushes forward and embraces her father.

"Affection is all nice and cheerful, but you realize that this isn't real, right?"

"I know, but with you, I take what I can get."

"Fair enough," her father says. "I also hear you've made a new friend."

She shrugs. "He's very interesting, you and he could talk for hours over coffee about the things you've collected."

"But he also sees the future correct?"

"Yes, he does, bits and pieces anyways…"

"I've dabbled on that road before, it did not end well."

"It's how you were labeled a coward," she says.

Rumpelstiltskin's face scowls and she knows she hit a sore spot with that statement.

"But you did it out of love for Baelfire," she adds quickly.

"That I did…" he smirks. His pride restored.

"Now I just need to find out how to break the curse."

"Once again, your mother's gift will help with that."

It's her turn to scowl, but with frustration. "I'm leaning towards faith or love, but it still doesn't guarantee I'll break this powerful curse."

"Indeed, curses are powerful things. I should know. I created one." He gives off the high-pitched giggle again.

"You, Grandma and Grandpa all did that. Maybe Gideon and I…"

"No!" her father says sternly. "I may have given into darkness, but you two still have the light inside. Both from your mothers, I won't let that be snuffed out of either of you."

"Fine, but Grandma is powerful, her curse won't be easy to break."

"That, alas, is true, but I still believe you can break it."

"Everyone seems to have more faith than I do."

"Perhaps, but I do think you should observe what the curse has done before you attack…"

"Good point, does Grandma know what I look like?"

"Unlikely, but still very plausible. I might recommend a glamor spell."

"Or just a few visits to the drug store," she shrugs. "Grandma might be able to detect magic in her threshold. I'd rather play it safe this time and rely on modern stuff for this phase."

"Wise decision," he nods.

She then turns to her father. "I will find you, that much I am confident about…"

"The rest will be up to you…" he says before vanishing into the wind of the field.

…

Crystal wakes up after 12 hours of hard-earned sleep. She knows that she must disguise herself so she locates several drug stores, finding temporary hair dye and additional make-up and then an optometrist's office to get colour contacts. Along the way, she sees billboards highlighting the new museum, who is holding everyone she loves captive. Undeterred, she prepares for the next step. By the end of the day, she's washing her hair, making her look blonde as well as putting in brown contact lenses. She also adds a few freckles for good measure.

Once she looks at herself in the mirror, she can barely recognize herself.

"Hopefully she won't recognize me now."

…

The following day, Crystal prepares for her mission. She drives to the address advertised in the commercial. To her great surprise, the place is packed with people, mostly families bringing their children to this new exhibit. The disguised girl sticks behind various patrons to blend in and act as curious as she can. She gets into a long line to buy a pass for the tour. There are actually several lines to enter the exhibit.

The towering roof of the building reads **_Blackwell Museum_** and underneath is the phrase, _Where New Dreams are Made_ … Which was almost a rip-off of Disney's slogan? There are banners hanging out front, displaying the different characters including Elsa, Snow, Merida, and her father. The sight of them makes her look away. The only thing she can truly admire about this situation is how modern the building is. Despite how evil she was, The Black Fairy has good taste.

"Mommy, mommy! I want to see Elsa!" one little girl says to her mother, who are standing in front of her in line.

"I get to see the dragon first," a boy behind her says, pulling at his father and mother's hand.

"I can't believe how original this idea is. Someone should have thought of it years ago."

"I wonder if they stay true to the Grimm's fairy tales."

"Do you think they have Moana yet?"

"Mommy, I want to be a princess too."

"I'm interested in the construction of the mannequins, they looked so life-like in the commercial," a teenage girl says.

"Especially that Pirate guy, too bad he isn't real. I'd want him all to myself," another girl giggles.

 _Well, he is real and sorry, he's taken_. Crystal thinks to herself. It sickens her how interested these people are… this means her grandmother is making profits off enslaving people. Then again, the tourists don't know the truth behind it all. That the woman who runs this place abducts innocent children, tortures people for fun and curses them. If she is honest with herself, Crystal always assumed that her father was the worst being in all the realms. After all, his body count was the biggest, with the Evil Queen taking a close second, but now it might be her grandmother. Her stomach twists when she has to use that title to describe her unfortunate blood relationship with this black-hearted woman.

Eventually, Crystal makes it the front window and buys a pass, which is not cheap.

Once she enters the building, she cannot believe her eyes.

The whole place is designed to look almost exactly like the Enchanted Forest. Large Pillars are carved and painted to look like tree trunks. The roof has fake leaves stuck to them, except for the dome in the center, which is painted like the night sky. There are many colourful murals painted in the lobby, including Wonderland, Snow and David's Castle, Arendelle, Neverland and what she thinks is Camelot. The entire place seems to be made entirely of marble. A few employees stand in red vests and gray uniforms, with crown pins as an added "fairy tale" touch, directing people to certain groups. There is also a gift shop off to the right, filled with storybooks and other paraphernalia to promote consumerism.

"Step this way please, your tour will begin shortly," an employee calls. Each group is named after a fairy tale character and ironically, she's in the Rumpelstiltskin group.

Crystal stands with the other people, most of them have grabbed brochures to read about the history of the museum and its exhibits. Crystal is too nervous to even look at them. She starts thinking about how she's going to break the curse again.

"Will everyone please follow me," a woman wearing a black skirt and a black blazer calls out. She wears a crown pin on the blazer. Her hair is pulled back into a tight braid and her dark eyes take in the new crowd of people. Crystal's stomach churns, knowing exactly who will be leading the tour. She puts on a pearly white smile, something that he granddaughter wants to punch off her face.

 _Keep in control_ , Crystal says to herself. She grips her hands to prevent her magic from acting up.

The group of people walks from the lobby into what can be assumed as the entrance of the museum. The area above the door is carved with the words, _Once Upon a Time_ …

"Welcome, one and all to the Blackwell Museum," Fiona begins to say, clearly having rehearsed this speech many times before. "I'm sure you are all very excited to revisit your childhoods and create some new memories for the little one's."

Crystal's stomach turns when she addresses the young children.

"Before we begin, I will just let you know about a few of the rules…"

Fiona's disguised granddaughter in the crowd, drowns out the rest of the speech, trying to figure out what she's going to do next. She needs to find a way to free everyone without her grandmother knowing. She's nervous about what she'll find in there.

"I'd like to introduce our Author. He is the symbolic writer of these stories and he is our introduction to this magical world…"

Crystal's ears perk up when she hears that.

"Excuse me tour guide?" one of the nearby patrons asked. "Why is the author figure a child?"

Crystal's heart drops as she struggles to get around the crowd of people to see this author. She's hoping that she found someone who can help her, or maybe give her a clue. In the back of her mind, she's praying it's one of her family members… the one and only author she knew.

"Excuse me, excuse me," she says trying to weave through the people. She catches a glimpse of dark brown hair, but someone is standing in front of the display.

"Oh, that is just to encourage the idea that fairy tales are part of a child's imagination and to make it more relatable to younger audiences."

Several of the people nod, impressed by the answer, but Crystal is desperate to see. With her last effort, she moves from behind a woman carrying her toddler and her jaw drops.

"Henry!" Crystal says, a little too loudly. Other people in the tour group look at her like she's crazy. She can feel tears come into her eyes as she faces her friend, she was afraid she'd never see him again. She knows she must look crazy, staring at what other people think is a wax mannequin, so she takes a step back and pulls out her phone.

"Henry, finally," she says quickly to make people seem that she's on a business call. She puts the phone to her ear and begins talking, having a pretend conversation. The other people shrug and go back to minding their own business. Crystal continues the conversation while staring at him. Henry looks the same as the last time she saw him, with shaggy dark hair, hazel eyes, and a half ended smirk she'd grown to expect from him. The only problem was, his hair was likely stiff to the touch, the smirk was permanently plastered on his face and his hazel eyes had that glazed over look that many dolls or statues had. His hand sat poised over the piece of parchment, forever writing the words, _Once Upon a Time_ in ink with a quill in his hand. Portraying the author of this exhibit.

Crystal swallows a lump in her throat as she subtly grabs Henry's wrist. To her great relief, it still feels like skin. He's not a stone or wax statue, she wasn't imagining things. This is the real Henry, frozen by this curse cast by her grandmother

She squeezes his wrist gently and can feel her magic warming up. She's hoping her touch is enough to wake Henry from the curse. The subtle purple glow of her hand warms his stiff wrist.

"Come back to me Henry," she whispers.

"Excuse me Ma'me!" Crystal hears behind her. She knows the voice already and she doesn't like it. She turns to face the wicked woman that is her grandmother, posing as the tour guide. Crystal doesn't say anything and prays that The Black Fairy cannot recognize her in the disguise. "Please do not touch the displays, they are very delicate."

Crystal grips Henry's wrist tightly, as if to tell him she'll be back and takes her hand away. She pretends to finish her conversation and hangs up.

"Thank you,"

"Before we begin the tour, I'd like to remind everyone to keep their children within reach at all times, these displays are truly a work of magic, being so life like, however, they are very delicate and could easily be broken. Also, no flash photography in the areas either. If you want pictures of these displays, we sell them in the gift shop at the end of the tour, now if you will please follow me, we'll begin our journey into the magical world of fairy tales…"

Crystal hates every word that has been said. She brings up the rear of the group as the group enters into the main part of the museum. She stares longingly at Henry for a little while longer.

 _Don't worry Henry, I will free you…!_


	13. Chapter 12: So Much More

Chapter 12: So Much More

The tour group unknowingly follows the Black Fairy into the first exhibit area. Crystal struggles to keep up with everyone, wanting to just free her family and get this charade over with.

"Let us begin with the fairy tale we all know and love… Snow White."

"Mommy, Mommy, look how pretty Snow White is!" a little girl says. She points to the glass case.

Crystal peers inside. It is a forest setting, very similar to the Enchanted one, with trees and a few very fake looking animals. She sees Snow/Mary Margret in the middle of this exhibit, posed and asleep in a glass coffin. She's dressed in a long, silky silver gown that flows over the platform she's laying on. She clutches a few white roses in her arms and her hair seems to have grown out again, and within her ebony hair are small white flowers. She does look very beautiful; Crystal always thought Snow was a beautiful woman but now she sees why she was considered the fairest of them all. Her milky white skin contrasts the silver dress and almost seems to glow in the light. She looks to be in a peaceful sleep, possibly a sleeping curse, as Crystal notes. There is a fake apple nearby to signify that this is the _Snow-White_ exhibit. A little bit of a distance over is David. He's dressed in a long red outfit with a fur cape and riding pants, very similar to the one he'd worn in the Enchanted Forest. He rides a very fake looking horse and seems to be staring at Snow as if longing to be with her, which he probably would be if he could move. Like Henry, his eyes are glazed over and his skin still looks like it, but he's frozen in the moment.

"Yes, doesn't she look pretty?" Fiona goes off the comment with fake warmth in her voice. "Now few people know that in the original story, Snow White didn't just eat the apple, but the wicked queen made three attempts on the princess' life, including a poisoned comb and laced corset…"

"What's a corset?" a young child asks.

"It's kind of like an undershirt that women used to make themselves look skinnier. And the prince doesn't kiss Snow White, he is so taken by her beauty that he tries to bring her to his castle, but the glass coffin breaks and frees the apple in her throat. Most people like the Disney version better with true love's kiss. People still think that Snow White is the weakest and the worst role model for young children. The original fairy tale was meant to ensure children did not trust strangers. After all, who would eat an apple a stranger gives you? The prince isn't even given a name in the story either."

A few people in the crowd laugh at the comment. Crystal wants to lash out at that comment. Nobody here except the evil fairy and the daughter of Rumpelstiltskin knows that Snow was far from weak. She lived for awhile as a bandit and was one of the best archers Crystal knew. She was also forced to eat the apple because Regina was going to kill David if she didn't. Snow was a strong woman and someone many children should look up to.

The group moves on to the next display which has an imprisoned Regina. She's dressed in one of her very famous Evil Queen outfits, with a beaded headpiece and her hair pulled up into some fancy style. The dress is almost spiderlike, being black with the ends of the dress reaching the floor and spreading out like eight legs. She also has a high collar that glitters in the exhibit light. Regina has the same evil expression she used to have in her early years and she's standing against a castle backdrop with a mirror that lights up and shimmers with various special effects. Crystal is surprised that her grandmother didn't imprison Sidney Glass in there too, but he's annoying as it is. The audio recording from the Disney movie is playing in the background, the one where the queen is asking who is the fairest one of all.

"Mommy she's scary," a little girl says leaning into her guardian.

"Don't worry," Fiona says, leaning to the girl's level. "She's not real, she won't hurt you. Now in some early versions of the _Snow-White_ story, the woman who poisoned her was actually her mother, not stepmother. The entire plot about being "the fairest of them all," is to teach people that those who only care about their looks are very superficial. This sort of mentality is very dangerous and it teaches children to have a humbler view of themselves."

Again, Crystal swallows her anger, knowing that Regina had changed and become a better person. She was never even jealous of Snow's looks in the first place, it was a mixture of Regina's hatred for herself, the lack of love she was given, her mother's manipulation of her and losing her first love Daniel, whose death was directly caused by Snow revealing the secret. She hated to see the mayor of Storybrooke, who had made so much progress, be right back in her original role, scaring children and likely being hated by several people.

"I love the work of the costume though," a woman behind Crystal says. "Very detailed bead work."

"She is kind of hot," two teenage boys whisper to one another.

"I know right,"

The group then passes another glass case that has the seven dwarves working in a mining background. They are all frozen in very uncomfortable looking positions with their pickaxes, their tools were going against the glittering fake walls of the mine.

"Now we all know the dwarves' names. Can anyone name them for me?"

An older boy in the front of the tour group names them all.

"Very good, but did you know that they never really had names in the fairy tales, that was another Disney addition."

Fiona then leads the group to the other side of the room where the next fairy tale is.

"Now, who can tell me what happened to this princess?" Fiona asks.

"Cinderella lost her slipper!" the same little girl shouts out.

"That's right…"

Crystal sees the woman known as Ashley, dressed in the same fancy gown and very tall hairstyle as portrayed in her fairy tale. She wears the glass slippers and has a fake smile plastered on, standing like a statue, making a sort of curtsy towards the tour group. There is a golden coach behind her with a clock in the background stating that it was midnight. Nearby is her husband, Sean, stands dressed in a very fancy uniform as her Prince, bowing to her. Crystal wonders where little Alexandra is, Ashley and Sean's little daughter. She wonders what her grandmother would do to the children of these fairy tale characters that she is exploiting. She also remembers that Ashley promised to give her daughter to Rumpelstiltskin, but Emma managed to break the deal. It still sickened her that her father actually wanted to keep the child. What would he do with it anyways? She could never fully understand the Dark One's motives.

"But did you know in the original story, the slippers were actually gold. But it was eventually changed to glass because a person can see through glass and consider it pure and clean, that anyone can see that Cinderella is a kind person and a princess. But when she loses the slipper, she loses that identity and once again becomes the servant to her evil stepmother and stepsisters. Also in the fairy tale, there was often more than one ball that she attends. Sometimes there's never a fairy godmother either."

As Fiona goes on and on, Crystal becomes increasingly impatient. She knows she must remain disguised to survey the area, but she just feels sad the entire time. All her family and friends have been reduced back to their perceived fairy tale counterparts, seen as either evil or weak or just something pretty to look at. These people were so much more than that and now they were under a curse that forced them to be someone they were not or that everything ends happily for them. This was anything but happy, the curse forced the residents of Storybrooke to be frozen in time, never having the chance to get that happy ending. It was like a hell that no one could ever be free from. As the group continues on, Crystal wonders yet again, how she's going to free those around her before she herself becomes trapped.

 _A/N: More descriptions to come. Also, some of these displays are based on a theme park called Storybook Park that I used to go to when I was little and they had the different displays of fairy tales. The little girl character is also loosely based on my cousins when they were little. They were huge princess experts for a long time, but then again, weren't we all at some point?_


	14. Chapter 13: Plan for Action

Chapter 13: Plan for Action

"And here is the classic _Sleeping Beauty_ display," Fiona says.

Crystal sees Aurora asleep in a bed with one of the convent fairies standing over the princess with her wand in the air. Aurora is in a blue and pink dress, likely inspired by the Disney movie, clinging to a few roses in her sleep. She looked a lot like Snow and the girl wonders if the princess is under a sleeping curse as well. The fairy, Nova, is dressed in her very pink gown and appears to be waving her wand over a spinning wheel. Several children press their hands on the glass to get a better look. However, the next part of the exhibit is in an open space, roped off so people don't get too close and Crystal can see why. Phillip is battling Maleficent dressed in her usual black horn attire and behind them is a very large gray dragon. It towers over everyone and looks to be frozen in a mighty roar.

"Look at the dragon!" A boy in the tour group shouts.

Most of the tourists look up at what they think is a statue, but Crystal knows it's Lily, Maleficent's daughter, likely forced into this form by the Black Fairy; the very form she hates and would rather keep concealed.

"It's so detailed," another person says.

"Right out of _Game of Thrones_!"

"Yes, the dragon is an impressive sculpture created by a team of very talented artists. They even gave her a nickname, Lily."

Crystal swallows hard.

"Why Lily?" a person asks.

"Because that was the head artist's name. They often thought of her as a "dragon lady" because of how fierce and angry she could be about completing this true work of art."

"It looks really scary," another child whimpers.

"It's all right," Fiona says. She knocks on Lily's scaly leg. "It's just a statue."

The group moves on to another room where the _Pinocchio_ exhibit is, with Marco, August, Blue the fairy, and Archie are in front of a workshop background. How her grandmother could revert August back to child and puppet form makes Crystal a bit nervous by how powerful she might be. Mulan is in another display, dressed in full armor and frozen as if she's preparing for battle. Then there's Ruby, in front of a forest backdrop, with her long flowing red cape. She is standing across from a very fake looking wolf. She can also see that Granny is standing in the background of the scene, waving to her granddaughter. Crystal wasn't surprised that The Black Fairy didn't turn Ruby into a wolf for this display instead. After all, that was the twist on the fairy tale, Red Riding Hood was also the wolf. Additionally, Ruby was supposed to be in Oz with Dorothy, her true love. Clearly "Fiona Blackwell" had been hopping between realms to enhance her exhibits.

In another room is the _Peter Pan_ display where a large pirate ship has been created where the guests can step on the deck and observe the many pirates surrounding them. Crystal searches for its captain and she can see Killian up by the wheel of the pirate ship. Again, she feels the need to rush over and grab his arm, to wake him up from the curse. However, that area is roped off to the public. His bright blue eyes show no emotion and his entire body is frozen in a fighting position with his cutlass in the air. He's not dressed like the Disney version, that would be very humiliating, but he does have a frilly looking red coat on over his usual black leather attire. In the air is a very fake mannequin of Peter Pan, aka, her grandfather. Obviously, her grandmother couldn't bring back the dead but the statue did resemble the boy's original likeness. An inaccuracy of this particular fairy tale was that "The Boy Who Never Grew Up" was the true villain. Crystals sighs heavily, she just comes from a long line of villains, doesn't she?

Alongside the pirate ship is a fake looking crocodile sticking its head out of the water, yet another inaccuracy. After all, it was her father who was the crocodile and the one who took his hand and his lover, Milah, not the actual reptile. Although she could understand why Hook called Rumpelstiltskin a crocodile, he did look like it in his Dark One form, but he was slimier like a snake.

On a nearby fake plot of land beside the ship are fake models of the Darling family in front of a gigantic tree, but Tinkerbelle is real. She's been shrunk back into fairy form and now hovers in the air next to the Peter Pan mannequin.

Upstairs on the second level is The _Wizard of Oz_ exhibit with several munchkins surrounding Dorothy and Glinda the Good along the yellow brick road. In the next display is Zelena, flying on a broom surrounded by flying monkeys, that could possibly be real people as well. Her face is green again and she's dressed up much like the wicked witch from the movie, with a pointy hat and black cape. Several children avert their eyes and ask to move on very quickly.

Next is the _Aladdin_ exhibit with the savior/street rat and his princess riding on a magic carpet, which was obviously suspended by strings. The two are forced to be statues, waving at the tourists.

Fiona leads the tour group onto the Rapunzel display, the _Brave_ display with Merida looking ready to let an arrow fly in front of a fake, stuffed bear and the _Frozen_ display with Elsa, in her ice castle and a giant Snow monster standing over Anna, Kristoff, and a very fake looking Olaf in the next area.

Many kids in the group begin singing the Frozen songs and want to stay at the display longer. Fiona allows this, turning her back and interacting with the children, which gives Crystal a chance to sneak away.

She begins surveying the remaining rooms, memorizing where the cameras are and trying to find Emma, her father, step-mother, and brother. She finds _The Beauty and the Beast_ display with Belle in her classic yellow dress dancing with a horrible looking animal statue, who was not her father. Crystal immediately assumes that the beast is fake and only Belle is real, with the two "statues" dancing in front of a ballroom background. There are a few other fairy tale displays that Crystal moves past without a second glance and at the very end, she sees her father.

He's back as his Dark One persona, the one that she saw in her dreams all the time, his shiny, grayish scaly skin glistening in the light. He is sitting at a spinning wheel surrounded by gold and straw, giving off his trademark smirk. If he wasn't suspended in animation, his daughter would expect to hear his high-pitched giggle too. Standing next to him is Violet, Henry's girlfriend, representing the Miller's daughter and she holds a baby in her arms. Obviously, it wasn't hers, but Crystal knows that it's likely either little Neal or baby Robin.

The daughter puts her hand on the glass as if waiting for her father to suddenly start moving. He'd been able to escape curses before by finding loopholes, so why would this time be any different. Instead, he remains in the same spot, smiling, and gazing off into the distance. Crystal felt happy to see her father again, just not like this.

"Hi Dad," she whispers. "Long time no see."

She continues to stare at his hideous face and wonders how her mother and Belle ever fell in love with him. At the time, he was as ugly on the inside as he was on the outside. Yet, both women managed to find something in him, a sliver of light in all the darkness. However, her mother's tale did not end as happily as Belle's did considering he wanted to eat his unborn child's heart and that forced Lillian Miller to flee to another world to protect their child…. And herself.

Crystal feels tears coming to her eyes, which was hard under the contact lenses, she then steps back. This was the end of the tour; where was Emma and where was Gideon? She knew Emma wasn't a part of any story, her brother was the same way, but where were they? She prays that her grandmother hasn't killed them. They were likely under the same curse, but obviously of no use to her in the museum. They might've been forced to work as employees in the museum, but no one on the staff resembled her brother or the saviour.

Fiona walks into the room and spots the missing person.

"Excuse me miss," the disguised black fairy says coming up to her.

"Yes?" Crystal says, biting her lip to the fact that she'd been caught.

"You were aware of the rule that you must stay with the group?"

Crystal grinds her teeth. "Yes, I'm sorry. I went to the bathroom and then got lost."

Fiona frowns at the disguised girl for a few moments before smiling again. "It's alright, just don't let it happen again."

"It won't," Crystal says, forcing a fake smile. She wants more than anything to lash out right then and there at the woman who was her grandmother. To make her pay for everything that she'd done to them. She wanted nothing more than to force the black hearted woman through one of those glass displays and trap her there… give her a taste of her own medicine.

The Black Fairy eyes Crystal for a few more moments before she turns back to her tour.

Crystal slips back into the crowd and begins looking for alternate exits, security cameras, guards and other things that might be useful for her to know. She stands at the top of the stairs, gazing back down into the lobby. She's scanning the area, trying to formulate a plan to get into this place after hours. Something catches her eye, there is a small red door that reads **_Emergency Exit_** on it, that stands just behind the gift shop. The girl deduces that it likely opened up into the back parking lot. This could work for her… very well.

"And that concludes our tour of fairy tales. I hope you had a wonderful time and be sure to come back again in a few months for when our Camelot exhibit opens, now will you please all follow me down the stairs to the gift shop where you can feel free to purchase souvenirs. I hope you all learned something and are reminded that there is magic in this world, all you need to do is look hard enough. Thank you all."

The tour group applauds loudly and Crystal forces herself to clap along too, even though she absolutely hated the tour and what this woman had done to her family. The group then goes down to the gift shop while Fiona goes to greet a new tour group.

Crystal knows she'll eventually have to leave just like everyone else, but she buys a small rubber paperweight at the poor excuse for consumerism before sneaking around to the emergency exit behind the shop. She wedges the small, black object between the door, leaving a very small crack open. It was small enough that she could easily open it, but it wouldn't arouse suspicion. She knew she could just use her magic to unlock the doors, but that could tip her grandmother off that there was magic in the air and have her come after the intruder. She decides to go with something a little simpler and a lot easier.

She smiles to herself, happy that she is taking action, but was still nervous about what would happen after dark.

 _A/N: Where do you think Emma and Gideon are? Next chapter is going to be great. Please review and follow_


	15. Chapter 14: Let's Do This

Chapter 14; Let's Do This

"Argus Morrible, Argus Morrible, Argus Morrible," she says into the small crystal ball once she's back in her car about a block from the museum. The sun will be slowly setting behind the Boston harbour in less than a few hours, but Crystal knows she's going to need more help from the seer again. She'd removed her contacts, washed the dye out of her hair before grabbing something eat and parking near the museum.

She waits as the tiny sphere begins to glow a bright yellow light and clouds of smoke begin to swirl inside the once clear orb. The clouds then give way to form the aged face of Argus Morrible.

"Mr. Morrible?" Crystal says, happy to see him again.

"Ah, young Crystal, how may I help you?"

"I found my family, they're all on display in a museum."

"Ah yes, the fairy tale exhibition at the Blackwell Museum in Boston."

"Did you see that in the future too?"

"No… I saw it on TV,"

The girl cocks her eyebrow in confusion and disbelief. The man's gray eyes crinkle up in what she can only assume is amusement. "A seer does keep up with the current news."

"Whatever, my grandmother has them all trapped in suspended animation in their Fairy Tale personas. She's also taking people from other realms, including Arendelle, Agrabah and I think places close to Neverland as well. And the worst part of all is that she's profiting off all of this and getting incredibly close to children. If you can recall, she abducted my brother and tortured him for 28 years. I think it'll only be a matter of time before she starts making more children disappear."

"How would you like me to help you?"

"I need some sort of invisibility spell or potion and sleeping dust. I've already wedged the emergency door open so I can slip in, but there are too many cameras and there are several security guards on patrol at night. I need the dust to knock them out and the invisibility potion to sneak around undetected."

"Those are quite difficult requests," the old man says.

"You seriously don't have anything that might be useful in that enormous shop of yours. You've never had potions that allow stealth or induce sleep before?"

The man removes his large spectacles and rubs his aged eyes through the crystal ball.

"What you are asking for is quite a lot," the man begins.

"I'm afraid to use my magic to get in. It's likely that my grandmother will detect it and she'll know something is up. If she stops me then no one is going to be free…"

"I can understand your reasoning," Argus says. "It just might take me awhile to gather what you want and the next problem is how am I going to get them to you?"

Crystal begins to wrack her brain, trying to find ways that things could be teleported. She then remembered a trick that Regina had taught her. She reaches into the glove compartment and grabs a small stalk of chalk.

"Do you have some chalk in your shop?" she asks.

"Yes, of course, I do why?"

"I remembered something that Regina taught me. If things need to be teleported from one place to another, one person on each end of the route draws and circle on the ground. Then each person activates it with their magic and then it becomes a sort of mini-portal. The person sending the materials has to say the location and the name of the person three times, then place them in the circle and it will travel to them."

"Keep in mind child, that I don't have magic,"

"Regina told me that a potion works well to substitute for those without magic. I think some of that leftover locator potion could work."

The seer sighs again, he can understand the urgency of the girl's situation and pauses to think for another few moments before responding.

"All right, I will see what I can do."

"Thank you," Crystal says happily.

She steps out of her car with the crystal ball still glowing and sits on the pavement. She draws a circle on the pavement and then waves her hand over it. The circle begins to light up and soon it glows a soft purple on the ground. The girl sits with her legs crossed in front of it, waiting. Her mind begins to think about what she's going to have to do once she gets inside the museum. She's been so worried about not being detected she forgot about the next step. She knows she's going to try and find Emma and her brother, but how is she going to break the curse? They were likely all frozen in time with no known way to be revived. Most kinds of curses could be broken with true love's kiss… it was worth a shot. She could try it on her father, brother, and stepmother, hoping it will work and then her father can help with reviving everyone else. It's a possibility but then she wonders if she should wake Emma up first. She did love Emma like a sister, so maybe that would help and then the saviour can help break the curse on everyone else. The one thing Crystal will take the most pleasure in doing is smashing the glass displays entrapping her family and friends. She will stop her grandmother… she will.

"Okay Crystal," Argus' voice comes back into the magical orb. "I have sleeping powder from poppies, the kind that grow in Oz, just throw it in the guards' faces and they will fall asleep temporarily. I'm also sending you a vial with a rare elixir inside. I cannot remember off the top of my head where it came from, but it does allow the bearer temporary invisibility. The individual will be undetectable. However, I'm not sure how long it will last and it's only a very small amount, so use it wisely."

The girl's eyes fill with tears and she smiles at the aged old man. "I'm sorry I'm calling on you again, the locator potion worked out great. I know I will never be able to repay you for your kindness. You are much better than my father is because he would always expect something in return."

"That is hardly my method of exchange," the seer says. "I give to those in need and only ask for success in return. It's how my shop is enchanted to be and it is how I work."

"I cannot thank you enough," she says again.

"I wish you the best of luck child. I've put the materials in the circle and am using the locator potion. I will say your name and location 3 times. It is unlikely that our paths will cross again…"

"But wait," she begins, but then the crystal ball goes clear again, indicating that Argus Morrible has left. She swallows a lump in her throat and sits beside the circle, waiting for the objects to appear. She pockets the crystal orb and waits patiently. She feels sort of sad that she might not see the man again. He had helped her in so many ways and she wanted to at least try and repay him for his kindness.

The circle at her feet suddenly glows very brightly, so bright that Crystal must shield her eyes from it. Once the light is gone, she sees several materials in the circle. In the vial is a clear looking liquid that looks like water, but she assumes is the invisibility potion and then a small velvet pouch which she knows has the poppy dust in it. She picks up both objects and then pockets them. She rubs the circle out on the pavement with her foot and stands up. She can see the sun beginning to set in the Boston harbour.

For a moment, she stops to watch it. The sky becomes orange and pink in colour as the sun sinks towards the horizon. High above her, the stars begin to shine through and Crystal is taken by the beauty. She pauses, allowing this quiet moment to consume her because she knows that it will be anything but smooth sailing over the next few hours… or even days. She then leaves her car and walks the block back towards the museum. She pretends to act normally like she's out for an evening stroll.

Eventually, she reaches the parking lot and slips into some bushes that surround the entire area. She waits quietly as the last of the tourists leave and the doors are closed for the night. Crystal sees the lights go out inside the sort of domed building and a very familiar figure in a black skirt walks to her car. Again, the woman's granddaughter has to fight the urge to attack the dark-haired fairy then and there, but she has to go home so the girl can make her move. It was also unlikely that she could take on the black fairy alone. She needed other people for that.

Once the parking lot is almost completely deserted, the girl slips from the bushes and goes towards the back of the museum. She tries to act as casually as she can, getting closer and closer to the red door that she had wedged open ever so slightly.

When Crystal is at the door, she waves her hand at the camera, shutting it down completely. She then reaches into her pocket and pulls out the invisibility potion. She decides to only drink half, the other might be useful again, or she can return it to Mr. Morrible.

"Okay…" she says to herself. "Let's do this!"

 _A/N: This is starting to feel a bit like a spy thriller or a heist movie._


	16. Chapter 15: Power Within

Chapter 15: Power Within

She takes in a deep breath and waits for the potion to take effect. She suddenly realizes that Mr. Morrible did not know how long the potion's effects were. She stays pressed against the wall behind the door. Waiting… and her mind racing.

After a few minutes, she looks down and finds that she cannot see her hands anymore. The potion worked, the only problem is, her clothes are still visible. She takes out the potion again and puts a drop on the sleeve of her shirt. Again, within a few minutes, it also disappears. She uses her powers to pull the rest of the potion from the vial, separate the droplets to the point where they are a mist and spray it on herself like perfume. She then shoves the vial into her pocket and slowly opens the door.

She braces herself as she slowly slips inside, leaving the rubber paperweight in the door just in case she has to make a quick getaway.

The gift shop lights are turned off and there is a heavy metal security gate in front of it. Most of the lobby is dark, except for a few security lights on to allow the guards to patrol the museum. The place looks a lot bigger now that it is void of people. The doors leading to the exhibit are closed and the large stairs that lead to the second level seem to tower over her. She takes a few steps and realizes how much it echoes with her shoes against the marble floor. As she makes her way into the building, in the corner something shiny catches her eye. It can barely be seen, glinting in the faint light. Crystal goes over and she finds two silver rings…wedding rings to be exact. They look brand new as well. It clicks in her mind that these are Emma and Killian's wedding rings. She assumes Fiona removed them before putting the groom in the displays. Why they hadn't been found yet was anyone's guess, but she pockets those as well before looking at a map on display.

She needs to get to the security office, which is on the other side of the lobby behind one of the marble staircases. Crystal decides to sneak across on the balls of her feet to make the least amount of noise possible. She focuses on where she needs to go and begins moving.

 _One… two… one… two…_

She makes it to the other side with minimal noise. She sees the security door ajar and music drifting from inside it. She slowly pushes the door open and she sees two men sitting in front of the monitors of security cameras with their feet up. A radio plays quietly and they sip coffee and eat snacks, keeping an eye on everything. She holds her breath to avoid being detected and walks on her toes to not make noise.

"You know, it's kind of creepy being here at night, those wax dummies there, they look so real…" one of them says.

"I know, but the boss pays us good money to be here. Munroe is doing the round right now."

Crystal slowly takes out the pouch of poppy dust and takes a handful. She can't help but feel a little guilty about what she's about to do, but they'll be asleep. There's another guard she'll have to put to sleep too.

"You see the game last night?"

Crystal blows the dust in both men's faces.

"Yeah, I…"

One of the men sneezes.

"What the hell is that?"

"I don't…"

The effect is almost immediate, the men close their eyes and their heads droop down. They basically fall head first onto the desk, one right into his bag of chips.

Crystal sighs relieved that they're okay and asleep.

She scans the monitors quickly looking for the other guard. She sees the woman security guard on the second floor by the Oz exhibit. Crystal then waves her hand over the camera monitors so they remain frozen at the captured images. Hopefully, no one will notice until she's freed her family.

Crystal then begins running as quietly as she can up the stairs, but to her dread, her footsteps make echoing noises.

Once she's at the top of the stairs, she hears footsteps in the distance. Crystal thinks quickly and goes through the nearest door, making sure to be as loud as possible. She slams it and waits.

"Who's there?" a female voice calls out.

Crystal looks and sees her father staring back at her from behind his spinning wheel. His display is lit by a single light, which is weird because all the others are dark. She pulls out another handful of poppy dust and waits.

"Come out with your hands up," the voice says, just outside the big heavy doors.

She doesn't respond and waits for the security guard to open the door. There is a click of the door being opened and then Crystal blows the dust in the guard's face. The woman stumbles back and begins to cough, obviously reacting to the dust. She tries to brush it from her face, but it's too late, she's already inhaled it meaning…

The woman falls to the ground, with Crystal breaking her fall with her own magic. She lets the guard settle on the ground in slumber before moving the woman over into the shadows, out of sight.

Once this is done, the girl grabs the keys just in case they are needed.

She then goes back to where her father is. She knows there must be a reason that his light is on and no one else's is. She stares into his dark eyes for a few moments, slightly unnerved considering the surrounding area is very dark. He looks very creepy and closely resembles a troll; which was a nickname she sometimes called him.

Crystal then looks to the right and there's door that reads, **_Employees Only_**. She looks back at her father for a moment and suddenly his light goes out again. She isn't sure if this is a sign from him, maybe it is, but she doesn't have a lot of time to waste.

She goes to the door and finds that it's locked. Not wanting to search for the right key in the dark, she uses her magic.

The door opens to a set of concrete stairs that seem to go downwards. It's like going into the belly of the museum. Not hesitating much longer, Crystal travels the down to the first floor and there's a sign saying, **_Employee Lounge_**. She wants to go in there, but then she notices that there is another flight of stairs, one that goes down to what must be the basement. Knowing that this is a clue of some kind, she takes the steps down into the underground.

At the bottom of the steps is another door, reading the words. **_Private_** and **_Keep Out Authorized Personnel Only_**. Crystal knows this is only meant for her grandmother to enter. She tries the doorknob, only to find it locked.

She decides to use her magic to unlock it, but the minute she puts her hand near the knob, a shock of red hot energy radiates from the handle, burning her hand.

She pulls it away in shock and examines the wound. It eventually closes back up again, allowing her relief. She tries once more and is burned, only for it to heal once again.

"Dark Magic," she says to herself. "It must be some kind of protection."

The young sorceress tries hands-free magic, but she still ends up being burned. She wonders what the problem might be and her hands glow a bright purple, the colour she likes and thinks of it as her good magic.

Something clicks in her mind, maybe it's deflecting light magic/ good magic. She knows what's going to have to happen in order to get inside. She reaches deep inside herself, thinking about all the anger and pain that is inside her. The dismal and sinister emotions that she tries to suppress in everyday life. Her mind flashes to that tragic night where she lost her mother and attempts to recapture those emotions.

 _Miss me?_ The voice asks with glee.

"Hardly, but I need my dark magic," she whispers.

 _Once again, I am needed. It's such a nice feeling to be desired_

"Yeah, I guess I have to go back to my dark self more than once this time." She pauses and sighs deeply. "I need you to flow through me, to protect me while I unlock the door."

 _That I can do._

"Okay…" Crystal says. She closes her eyes and concentrates very hard. Her mind clouds with the dark images of her past. She puts her hand on the knob of the door. She can feel her hand starting to burn, but it's not as intense as it could be. She lets that ominous energy flow through her and into the door. She can feel the entire door creak and shake from her power.

The door unlocks and Crystal slowly passes through the sort of dark protective field surrounding the frame. She then shuts the door behind her and thinks about her mother again. Finding that light that her father always talked about, the power that kept her balanced.

Once she's inside, torches light up automatically. The sorceress prepares herself for an attack, but nothing happens. She scans the room. The place looks like some kind of medieval living room made of stone, with tapestries and torched hanging on the walls, a suit of armor in one corner, a black and ugly looking chandelier hanging from above with candles inside of it, a large fireplace in the corner and old looking velvet furniture. There is also an assortment of sinister looking objects on shelves and table and the room itself is almost entirely round. She can't see anything else, so she takes very careful steps into the room.

 _This must be grandma's hideout,_ she thinks to herself. _Furnished an early Dark Realm._ The place was likely modeled from the hell from which the Black Fairy had come. It's likely decorated to allow the black-hearted woman to feel more at home.

On the furthest end of the room, she sees several figures. Her heart jumps into her throat for a moment, expecting attackers, but they don't move. She blinks for a moment and gets a closer look.

In yet another glass display are several figures, frozen like the people upstairs. Crystal gets a little closer and her heart drops.

Inside is Emma, Gideon, and a small child, who Crystal realizes is baby Neal. Her heart pounds loudly and her eyes fill with tears. She found her brother and the Saviour. She takes a moment to take in her brother's appearance. He doesn't look much older than Emma at this point, his dark eyes and brown hair closely resembles their shared father's, but his sort of heart shaped face and small chin resembles his mother's. This was the first time she'd seen her brother in the flesh… well, sort of. The girl also feels upset that she hasn't been able to congratulate Emma on her wedding. The blonde savior has a frightened look on her face as if she's just seen something horrible. She's dressed in her classic red leather jacket and jeans.

Crystal pounds to see if the glass is breakable. It seems like regular cut-glass.

She takes a few steps back and then concentrates. She summons a ball of pure purple energy and launches it at the case. There's a flash and the girl is forced to duck as her attack is hurtled back at her. It crashes into the adjoining stone wall.

She taps on the glass again, wishing that Emma and Gideon could help her break the barrier.

She takes a nearby vase and tries smashing it against the surface, but all the vase does is break. She even steals an ax from the suit of armor and throws it, only to have the weapon fall to pieces on the floor

 _If Grandma wanted to use them for anything, she'd want to prevent light magic from penetrating…_

Sighing heavily, she goes back to finding that inner darkness again. Her darkest times in the streets, her years of tormenting and bullying her classmates, the fights with her mother, the attack, and betrayal she felt towards her father. The energy is building up inside her. Once her mind floods with the death of her mother at her own hands, she launches a ball of almost pure black energy at the barrier.

Unfortunately, the girl has to duck as the barrier deflects the attack again.

Becoming frustrated, Crystal kneels on the ground, feeling overwhelmed and desperate. She has to break Emma, Neal, and her brother out. The problem is, now that all her darkness is coming back, her mind won't stop. Her body is filling with increasing dark energy… it's becoming harder to control. Thoughts of death, torture, anger, darkness and everything in between is hurting her. She keeps thinking back to those evil moments, where she became someone else entirely. Someone who enjoyed watching others suffer and using everyone to her advantage. Like her father did. She's reached in too far, opened Pandora's box and unleashed all her inner demons.

 _Keep it in check!_ She thinks in frustration, the problem is, it still keeps coming. _I'm not like that anymore. I'm not my dad…_

 _You let us out, it's hard to put them back in…_ the voice snickers.

"Go Away!" she hisses, holding her head, trying to control everything.

An image of her mother comes into her head.

"Crystal, I hate you... you killed me in cold blood. You're a monster just like your father"

"No...No!" she shouts through the tears. "I didn't mean to Mom... I need to stop... This isn't real"

 _I'm afraid that's not possible… dearie…_

A huge wave of energy is released from her body, like the explosion of a volcano, all her power is released. It's blasted out in a large wave. Crystal is flushed and overwhelmed with her emotions, tears coming to her eyes as she crumples to the floor. Her ears are ringing and her head is spinning. She's so consumed for a moment until she hears something shatter, loudly

Opening her eyes, the girl sees that the barrier has been completely shattered, also disintegrated anything else within a twelve-meter radius. The thing is, Emma, Gideon, and Neal are unharmed by the blast, the enchanted glass case likely protecting them. She assumes that this was because she had to reach down deep, find her emotions and turn it into power. All the sadness and conflict she felt within herself, her light and dark, her happiness and sorrow, her love and hate. She never realized how powerful these seismic waves could truly be.

She scrambles to her feet and rushes over. She looks into her brother's eyes and feels herself tear up. She puts her arms around him, the tears flowing freely now.

"Oh Gideon," she says. He's stiff in her arms, but at this point, she doesn't care. "I'm so sorry about what happened to you. I miss you and I love you." She's so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she doesn't realize that something happened when she hugged her brother. Something good and something very important. She stands on her toes and kisses his forehead.

Crystal then embraces Emma, next. "I'm so sorry I missed your wedding," she weeps quietly, holding the blonde tightly. "I never got to say congratulations or that I missed you. You are like my sister and I should've been there for you, to help. I'm sorry this happened to you…I love you, Emma..."

This time, Crystal feels something unusual, a different kind of energy that came from her hug. She looks up at Emma and then kisses her friend's forehead. A wave of energy blast through the room and the girl feels the warmth come back to her friend's body. She hears two people gasp for air. She looks up, tears still in her eyes.

"C-Crystal…"

 _A/N: A barrier broken and two people freed. Stay tuned for more, this isn't over yet._


	17. Chapter 16: Confrontation

Chapter 16: Confrontation

"Emma," she says, wrapping her arms around the saviour.

"Crystal? W-What's going on? Where's Hook? Where's Henry? Where's Mom and Dad?" her green eyes look overwhelmed and are on the brink of producing tears. "T-The curse, The Black Fairy cast the curse... at the wedding. What happened? Where the hell are we?"

"You're back in Boston."

"It looks like the Enchanted Forest," she points out. She turns to see Gideon who is blinking and finally moving, trying to comprehend what's happening too. Crystal runs over and hugs her brother tightly.

"W-Who are you?" he says in a very confused voice.

"I'm your sister," she says. "Well, half-sister. I'm…"

"Crystal, what the hell happened?!" Emma interrupts. "Where's Henry? Where's Hook? Why is Neal…?"

She reaches down and scoops up her little brother. She is immediately off-put by how stiff and still he is. She begins looking at him all over and panics. He's not breathing and his eyes are shut. She's worried he might be dead! Her breath catches in her throat. "N-N-Neal?" she says in confusion. "What happened to him?"

"It's the Black Fairy's Curse," Crystal explains. "She suspended everyone in time and then used them to set up some bizarre museum with the fairy tale characters as the main attractions."

"What's a museum?" Gideon asks.

Crystal forgot that her brother hasn't been introduced to modern life yet, being in the Dark Realm for so long.

Emma is beyond confused. She shakes her head and few times trying to comprehend what was just said. "Where are we?" Emma asks, looking around. "What are we going to do about Neal?"

"Give him a kiss," the brunette girl says quickly. "True Love's kiss. I kissed each of your foreheads, saying how much I missed you and it broke the curse's hold on you."

Emma kisses her baby brother's head gently and a very similar wave of magic swept through the room. Neal blinks and looks up at his sister; having recognized her, he coos and waves his hands in the air. Emma can't help but smile at him and hug him tightly, feeling great relief that he wasn't dead. Crystal also goes to the baby and tickles him under the chin, he squeals with delight.

The Saviour's attention then turns to Gideon, still dressed in his cloak from Emma's vision, and she takes a step back. She shields her little brother and grabs Crystal's arm.

"Crystal get back,"

Gideon looks at them in confusion, he's several steps behind everyone at this moment. He too takes a step back away from the bizarre reunion. He can't remember what happened for the life of him.

"Emma, it's okay, his heart is back, he's not a villain anymore…"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." a sinister voice calls out with glee.

All three adults turn to see the Black Fairy standing in the center of the room. She's not longer in modern clothing, she's dressed in a long black gown that has feathers running along the sides of it. Her large wings rustle behind her. Her dark hair is done up in a sort of bun and she wears rings and a necklace.

Emma reacts by raising her hand, but then realizes she has a cuff on. Gideon flinches, but does nothing and Crystal holds her breath.

"Feels nice to be out of those stuffy modern clothes, I still find this form a lot more freeing." The woman's dark eyes drink in the four individuals. They then narrow in on Crystal. "At last we meet, granddaughter… it's Crystal, isn't it?"

"You know who I am?" the girl swallows.

"But of course, you don't think I would know that I have a granddaughter? I could see many things in that realm I was trapped in, these included the birth of all my grandchildren. For awhile there I wanted to take you to the Dark Realm too, but your mother's damned love protected you, plus the protection spell on that locket didn't do me any favours either."

Crystal bites her lip hard, trying to remain calm. She can feel her powers heating up in anger and frustration.

"For a long time, I didn't need to influence you, you were doing so well on your own, you made me very proud. I watched you grow into a dark being, taking out the only source of love you had; snuffing out the light, which paved your path to true darkness."

Crystal's eyes fill with angry tears, the emotions coming to the surface again. She wants to lash out at this woman, but something tells her not to, she wouldn't stand a chance.

"But, that damned love stayed inside you, gave you hope and then you became a hero. You found love again and your father… it really was a waste, that's why I had to try again with your brother, and that foolish bookworm made it so easy by giving him to the Blue Fairy…"

Gideon looks at the Black Fairy, the woman whom he called mother for so long. He was trying to stay brave, but he was still afraid of her. His mind raced. He didn't know that he had a sister and his grandmother is now telling him that she's the reason he was taken; tortured and traumatized for 28 years, while his "sister" got to live a life with a mother who loved her, something that protected her. He can feel his own tears trying to come to his eyes. He looks at the girl claiming to be his sister and then at the Saviour, the woman he was destined to destroy. He clenches his fists angrily.

"You're a monster!" Crystal hisses angrily.

"That may be true, but it was a very clever plan you had, disguising yourself to infiltrate this place, using poppy dust and an invisibility potion to sneak by, but I knew who you were. You think I don't detect magic? I hear that you can do the same; it must run in the family," the black fairy chuckles. "You also don't think that I receive notices when my museum is broken into?"

Emma clenches her fists. She wants to get the three of them out of there but there's the cuff to worry about. She keeps her brother close and inches towards her ally. She slowly grabs the girl's hand and squeezes it. Crystal notices and communicates to Emma that she will take it off. She concentrates and allows her purple magic to glow brighter with each passing moment.

"I decided to wait, see how far you'd get. Getting into my inner sanctum, past my protection spell was rather impressive. I had much confidence that you wouldn't be able to break the barrier, but once again, you surprised me."

The girl's hand is heating up again, glowing brightly, ready to take the cuff off Emma.

"Now, you leave me no choice," she reaches into her gown and pulls out a pulsing red heart.

Crystal lets her special sight take over, looking at the two people whom she trusts. Her own heart drops when she realizes that her grandmother is holding Gideon's.

She grabs Emma's arm and teleports them away.

They end up on the first floor of the museum. Emma is utterly confused and struggles to hold her baby brother. Her mind is racing.

"Crystal…"

"No time to explain, we have to wake everyone up before she forces Gideon to come after us. Hold out your wrist,"

Emma obeys and Crystal uses her magic to take the cuff off. The saviour's hand begins to glow white. Neal is on the verge of crying, very confused by everything.

"Thank you," the blonde woman says.

"We have to hurry," Crystal says. She begins conjuring up a barrier around the first floor. She knows it won't hold her grandmother for very long, but it will buy them some time. She then takes Neal into her arms and Emma creates the second shield of pure white energy to slow their enemies further.

The two then rush towards the entrance of the exhibit.

 _A/N: Things are heating up, Gideon is forced to go against his family again. Emma and Crystal are not related, but it was the sisterly bond the two share that woke the saviour up._


	18. Chapter 17: Wake Me Up

Chapter 17: Wake Me Up

"Henry!" Emma gasps as they come to the entrance of the exhibit. She's so confused and overwhelmed by their situation she just wants to take Henry into her arms and forget anything ever happened. Again, she is disturbed by how still and lifeless her son looks, grasping his quill over the book, frozen after writing _Once Upon a Time…_

Crystal is working on the door with magic when she turns to Emma. "Wake him up, you've done it before…"

Emma grabs her son's arm and whispers, "I love you, Henry," she then kisses the top of his head. The wave of magic leaves where the mother kissed her son and Henry gasps for air. He blinks in confusion and shakes the cloudiness within his head. Both women feel great relief to see the teenager alive and moving again.

"Where am I?" he asks. He looks up at his mother with those worried hazel eyes. "Mom? What happened? Where is everyone?"

"In here Henry," Crystal answers.

He turns to his friend. "C-Crystal, what are you doing here?"

"There's no time to explain," she answers quickly, finally getting the door open. Rumpelstiltskin's daughter shifts Snow White and Prince Charming's son to her other hip and holds the door open. "We have to hurry!"

"Mom?" he asks.

"I don't know what's happening either Henry, but we have to go inside."

"What about the Black Fairy?" he asks.

"She's right behind us," Crystal answers first.

Emma grabs Henry's wrist and he slowly moves from his sitting position, unknowingly taking the quill with him. Mother and son rush into the first room of the exhibit and Crystal locks the door behind them. She then casts another protection charm to buy them more time.

Emma and Henry both take in the scene, their mouths open in disbelief and blinking their eyes to make sure they're not hallucinating. Their heads are spinning, unable to fully comprehend the gravity of the situation, while Crystal has had time to process and understand everything.

Emma rushes to the first display, with Henry not far behind, and she puts her hand on the glass. She's so confused by what she sees; her parents frozen in tableaux, like an image from the fairy tale book as Henry remembers it. Her mother appears to be under a sleeping curse and lying in a glass coffin, dressed in a silver gown. Her father is on top of a horse, gazing at his true love, unable to awaken her.

"Who did this?" Emma asks, already knowing the answer. Her hand turns into a fist as she pounds the glass once.

What sort of twisted joke was the Black Fairy playing, putting everyone in their generic and stereotypical roles? She'd basically separated every person from their loved ones, including her and keeping them captive. The newlywed woman immediately thinks of her husband, she wants to find him too, but she knows she'll have to rescue her parents as well. She feels the rage boiling up inside her, rage towards that black hearted woman who ruined her wedding to Killian, kidnapped everyone she loved, separated them and was ruining their lives just for the sheer pleasure of it.

Her hands begin to glow in anger. Her son takes a step back, knowing what's about to happen. Emma concentrates extremely hard and creates a ball of white energy in her hand. She then launches it at the glass display.

However, to everyone's shock, the blast comes right back at Emma, causing all of them to duck. The orb creates a hole on the opposite wall.

"What the hell?" Emma gasps.

She then searches frantically for something heavy. She finds a chair and throws it at the glass display, the chair doesn't even make a mark.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Emma screams again, she can feel tears coming to her eyes.

Crystal hands Neal to Henry and goes to join Emma. The two women take aim and unleash beams of white and purple light at the barrier. This time, there is a ripple in the blockade, but it still doesn't break, even with the combined power. It is then that something in Rumpelstiltskin's daughter's mind clicks.

"Emma, stand clear!" she orders.

The Saviour hesitates but obeys.

"Hold onto Henry and Neal, this is going to get bad. Also stay close to the ground and cover your ears."

The orders confuse Emma, but she takes her little brother into her arms and grabs her son's hand. They both kneel close to the ground and block their ears.

"Brace yourselves," the girl adds.

Crystal goes back to her dark thoughts, wanting her inner demons to come out to play. She shuts her eyes and concentrates. She takes in a deep breath and tries to find her inner darkness again. Waiting for the voice to resurface.

She knows how she's going to have to break them. She has to focus on the darkness, knowing that only dark entities, like her grandmother, could break them. She brings back all those feelings again; the anger, the resentment, the hatred. She thinks about how she wants revenge against that evil woman for hurting her and turning her brother against them again. Her lies and deceit, the curse she performed, the harm she caused…

 _You are the reason for all of this…_ the voice says. _You couldn't save your mother then, and you're failing now._

Tears begin forming under her eyes.

 _Your father never loved you… he wanted to kill you, eat your heart._

The ground begins to shake with the forced amount of energy building up inside her. She knows she must keep going.

 _You ruined your mother's life, she was afraid of you…_

Nights sleeping on the streets, doing drugs, vandalizing, beating up innocent people flood her mind. Those moments of shame and regret boil up inside of her again.

 _You will never be a hero like you claim, you've fallen too far…_

The girl clenches her fists, fighting it again, building the pressure.

 _You have no family, they hate you…_

The entire floor seems to shake. Emma swallows hard and clings to her son and brother tightly. Her heart is pounding, afraid of what might happen. She conjures up a shield to protect the three of them, just in case. She's very afraid, but for some strange reason, she trusts Crystal and knows she's doing something important.

 _You are a danger to everyone… your life means nothing. If you were to disappear, no one would shed a tear. You are worthless to everyone… no one cares about you… Your grandmother should've taken you, you would be much more useful there, maybe you would've been destined to kill Emma… Your father should've eaten your heart, you wouldn't have poisoned the world with your darkness._

Her teeth clench. Her entire body is shaking by the sheer magnitude of pressure building inside her.

 _Your mother should have let you be killed. We would all be better off. She mother hated you and you killed her in cold blood. You can never come back from that… dearie…_

The energy erupts from her body, like a tsunami, a massive shockwave that blasts outward, hitting everything in its path. A multitude of sounds enters her ears as Crystal opens her eyes, slightly weakened from what she's just done. The sounds are of multiple display cases smashing into tiny pieces and the frightened cries of a small child. She goes over to Emma, Henry, and Neal first. Emma still holds her brother in her arms, but both she and Henry are on their backs. Clearly, Crystal's jolt of energy broke Emma's protective shield and knocked them flat on their backs. Neal is crying loudly, very afraid of everything that is occurring.

"Are you okay?" Crystal asks, grabbing both Emma and Henry's hands to pull them up.

Emma's head is aching and her ears pop as she slowly is pulled to her feet.

"What the hell was that?" she asks.

"Me getting in touch with my inner darkness," Crystal explains. "It happens in times of great emotional distress, where it's like a hurricane inside of me. My inner darkness comes to the surface and I try to fight it. The pressure builds and builds until it's unleashed like a massive shockwave."

"It's kind of like a volcano," Henry points out.

"Exactly," Crystal nods. "I'm sorry, but it was the only way to break the spell or protection curse the Black Fairy has on the display cases."

Without another thought, Emma immediately runs over to the exhibit containing her parents. She hands Neal to Crystal on her way there, ignoring the fact that her friend said she'd just unleashed dark energy. Remnants of a once powerful barrier lay everywhere, some shards still sticking out. The Saviour reaches out towards her father.

She cannot reach his face to give him true love's kiss, so she uses her magic to make the horse disappear. David's stiff body falls to the floor, still in the sitting position. Emma barely manages to cushion his fall. She looks down into his blue eyes and the concerned look on his face. He looked so brave, but at the same time gentle. He was the last face she saw before she was put in that wardrobe all those years ago, and it still had the look of determination to keep his family safe. He would always find a way back to them, proven time and time again.

"I've always loved you," she says and her lips meet his forehead.

Another wave of energy blasts through the room, this one much gentler and very familiar. David gasps and blinks, his eyes registering what's happening in front of him.

"Emma!" he says.

The Saviour's eyes fill with happy tears. "Dad…"

"What happened? Where are we?"

"Emma," Crystal calls out. "We need to make the barriers again; Gideon and Grandma weren't too far behind."

Emma sighs but helps her father sit up.

"Emma, what's going on? Where is your mother? Where's Henry? Where's Killian? Why am I wearing this…?" He looks down in disgust at the suit and robe he's wearing. Even back in the Enchanted Forest, he hated the prince robes. He tries to remove the cape with the fur hood.

"It's a long story dad, even I don't know everything, just give me a second, you go wake up mom."

"Snow…"

Emma rushes to where Crystal is while David's head spins with confusion. He looks to his daughter and then sees Snow laying on a platform. Her eyes are closed and she looks very, very pale, paler than usual. She wears a long silver gown that seems to engulf her entire body. Her hair is long again and has flowers decorating it. She holds a few white roses in her arms. His heart stops; she looks almost exactly like she did during that first sleeping curse. Even then, he is still taken by her beauty and his eyes fill with tears. He rushes to her side and leans down. Her delicate face is covered in glass shards, which he removes without much thought. His mind goes back to the first time he kissed her like this, thinking she was dead and all he wanted was one last moment with her, to show that he truly loved her. And in the end, the act of true love saved her. His heart pounds as he leans down and kisses her on the lips. As he leans back, the very similar wave of energy was released. Snow opens her hazel eyes and she gasps for air. Her red lips form into a big smile.

"You found me," she says like she always did.

"Would you ever doubt I would," David answers almost instinctively.

"Well, the curse gave me pause," she says, amusingly.

David helps his wife sit up. She's still a bit dazed by everything, not sure how to process what's happening. She looks at him in disbelief. "What are you wearing?" She then looks down at herself. "What am I wearing?"

She then looks around and then starts asking very similar questions. "Where's Emma? Where's Neal?"

"Mom!" Emma says, her eyes welling up with tears. She runs over to her parents, now carrying her baby brother as well. Both parents stand and embrace their daughter and son, tears in their eyes. David holds his daughter's head in his hands as Mary Margret wraps her arms around her daughter and son. The family has been reunited, no eye was dry.

"I'm so happy you're safe," Emma says. She then hands her brother to her mother. Snow kisses her son's head a million times, not bothering to wipe away the tears and the infant even manages a smile, recognizing who was holding him. David also kisses his son but keeps Emma in his arms the entire time.

"Emma, what's going on?" Snow asks, directly. "Where are we and why are we dressed like this?"

"The Black Fairy's Curse froze everyone and she basically turned all of us into her collection of statues. Like the White Witch or Medusa. But Crystal found us."

"Crystal?" David says.

Both Henry and Crystal rush over to where the family is. The author smiles earnestly and rushes to hug his grandparents.

"Henry, I'm so glad you're safe…" Snow cries out. She shifts her son to her one arm so she can accommodate him.

Henry is readily embraced by his grandmother. He is fighting back his own tears, happy to be with his family again.

"You too Grandma,"

David hugs his grandson as well and then they all turn towards Crystal.

"Crystal, what's happening?" Prince Charming asks bluntly.

"We don't have a lot of time," she says. "The Black Fairy has turned Gideon against us again and those barriers won't hold for long. She's put everyone from Storybrooke on display like some bizarre museum and the only way to wake everyone up is with true love's kiss." Like the way to break any curse.

"Is everyone here?"

"Not just from Storybrooke, but from other places too. Agrabah, Arendelle, Oz, it's getting bad and if we don't wake everyone up, the curse might become permanent!"

Emma's heart pounds loudly at the thought and the four of them break apart.

"Let's go," she says, ready to save the day again.

 _A/N: Sorry that the voice taunts towards Crystal are kind of cheesy and pretty bad. I couldn't think of better ones, but they still seem to do the trick._


	19. Chapter 18: Love is True

Chapter 18: Love is True

The adjacent display has Regina dressed in her Evil Queen outfit in front of a shattered mirror, something that looked very degrading considering how far she'd come as a person. She wasn't that villainess anymore, she was a hero, she'd even managed to compromise with her other half, giving the evil twin a second chance as well.

"It's your turn Henry," Crystal says. "You give her that kiss of true love."

The author nods and rushes to his second mother, he gazes into her dark eyes. He can scarcely remember the time when he hated his mother and was afraid of her. He was the reason she changed for the better, became the person she wanted to be. It was even her true love's kiss that freed everyone from the second curse that had been cast.

He goes up to his mother and takes in a deep breath.

"I'm sorry I ever said I hated you, I love you mom,"

He then kisses her cheek.

Yet again, a wave of magic sweeps through the museum as yet another prisoner is freed. Regina gasps and blinks before looking down.

"Henry!" she says, smiling. She embraces her son tightly, ignoring everything else around her.

"Hi Mom," he says.

The former evil queen's eyes fill with tears as she clings to her son tightly. She kisses the top of his head.

Once the two break apart, Regina looks around her and she's instantly stunned by where she is. She feels a lot of weight on her head and her hand goes up to her hair. She then looks down, noticing her outfit.

"What the hell am I wearing?" she asks.

"There's not a lot of time to explain," Henry says. "We have to move quickly."

The two of them step out of the display over the shattered glass.

"Regina," Snow says and goes to embrace her. The two had come a very long way from the poisoned apple. They now trusted one another and all the hatred and revenge had been put to rest a long time ago. David follows suit after his wife, hugging the woman they now considered part of their family.

"What's going on?" the former evil queen asks. She struggles to walk in this outfit and heels. She tries to wave her hand to change into something more comfortable, but nothing happens. She then notices the leather cuff on her wrist.

"I've got it, Regina," Crystal says, she waves her hand over the woman's wrist, destroying the cuff and allowing her to change out of her evil queen wardrobe.

"Crystal, what are you doing here?"

"I think the question should be what are we doing here..." she answers.

Once in modern clothing, Regina turns to give Snow and David similar treatment. Snow's hair goes back to the stylish bob she always wore and David is back in a worn pair of jeans.

There's suddenly a blast of magic at the door.

"What was that?" the former evil queen asks.

"The Black Fairy and Gideon, they're trying to come through the barrier, we have to hurry and wake everyone else up!" Crystal gasps.

"But…" David begins.

"Come on," the girl insists, not wanting to waste any more time. As much as she wanted to hug and reunite with her family again, time was of the essence. She rushes to the next display where Ashley and Sean are. Crystal uses her magic to bring the two figures together and then have them touch lips. The result took a little longer since they were both statues, but both figures began to move again. They embrace and then look at their silly costumes, which Crystal changes with the wave of her hand.

"Henry, you need to come with me. Emma, Killian's two rooms over. Regina, Zelena's on the second floor and Snow, you need to wake Ruby up, you two have that sisterly bond that should work, then Ruby can wake up Dorothy."

The girl then grabs Henry's wrist and teleports them away.

They appear in front of the Rumpelstiltskin exhibit. The glass had already been shattered from Crystal's massive shockwave; the two barely have time to comprehend the magnitude of her blast.

"Violet!" Henry gasps.

"Kiss her, while I wake up my Dad," Crystal orders.

Approaching her father's grotesque figure, with his enlarged eyes and shiny skin, Crystal takes a deep breath, hoping, and praying that she can wake him up. He had been helping her this entire time, through some weird and convoluted ability. He'd appeared to her when she needed him most, giving her advice and it was the magic that he passed down to her that got her here. Despite the distrust and hatred she'd felt towards him before… she did love him. He certainly wasn't a perfect as a father, but he was there and his biggest regret was his plot to eat her heart. He really did love her in his own bizarre way, their family was always going to be flawed, but now, she was okay with that.

"Your half helped save me and bring me here, now Mom's half is going to save you. I love you, Dad,"

She kisses his cheek and then waits for the result. The effect is not instantaneous as the others were, but eventually, the same wave of magic is released and her father turns his head towards his daughter.

"I love you too," he says in his familiar accented voice. He then gives a soft giggle, before his daughter attacks him with a hug.

"I missed you," she says quietly, feeling tears come to her eyes.

"Likewise," he says.

She then steps back to allow her father to stand up, he stretches his arms and legs.

"Sitting like that for a long period of time is hardly ideal," he mutters. Crystal then uses her magic to get the cuff off of him.

"Thank you," he says.

"Now will you please change because I can't look at you any longer," she jokes. "You really let yourself go as the Dark One."

Rumpelstiltskin uses his magic to become human looking again.

"Where's Belle?"

"She's a few displays down," his daughter answers, pointing to the left.

He conjures up a cane for himself and then hobbles over the glass towards where his wife was. He swallows a large lump in his throat. He wasn't sure if True Love's Kiss would work. It hadn't the last time when Belle was under a sleeping curse. He still loved power too much then and it was up to Morpheus, in the form of his son, to wake her up.

He comes to the case and can see his wife frozen, gazing at into the eyes of this ugly stuffed animal. She still looked ever so beautiful, her blue eyes reflecting the light and she looked elegant in a yellow gown, it was very similar to the one she wore when the two danced during their wedding night. Her eyes still had that far off look of wonder and concern, likely caused by the need to find her son. Rumple practically torches the stuffed animal she's clinging to with a fireball and takes cautious steps towards her. His memories of her beauty and her kindness come to mind, the way she made him smile and the laughter she brought. She didn't deserve him, that was clear from the beginning, but she still managed to love the man behind the beast. Despite the suffering and heartbreak, they'd both endured, it made them stronger and hopefully, it was strong enough to break his mother's evil hold on his wife.

His heart is pounding in his chest as he leans in.

"I'm sorry for everything I've done, I love you,"

He then lays a kiss on her seemingly cold lips. He puts all his emotion into this act of love, hopefully, true love.

He steps back, waiting with baited breath. There is a long pause and the man's heart begins to sink, knowing it didn't work. His eyes filled with tears. He knew he couldn't do it, he still loved power more than his wife and even his own family it seemed…

He's about to turn away when a wave of magic hits him and a voice calls out.

"Rumpel?"

The Dark One turns to see his wife moving towards him, her gown rustling with every step. Both their eyes fill with happy tears before the two embrace.

"Oh Belle," he says.

"I love you too," she says, before kissing him with all her might.

Meanwhile, Henry manages to wake Violet up with a small kiss on the lips. She gasped for air and then smiles when she sees Henry.

"You're okay!" he gasps.

"Of course, I am, you saved me," she says, before trying to embrace him, which was hard since she had baby Robin in her arms. Her happy gaze becomes bewildered with the still frozen baby in her arms, but she kisses her boyfriend on the cheek, grateful to see him again.

Crystal takes the baby from the girl's arms so the two can have a proper reunion and begins to go towards the Oz section to find the infant's mother.

Rumpel stops his daughter before she can leave.

"Crystal, where is Gideon?"

The girl locks eyes with her parents and swallows.

"The Black Fairy still has his heart. I woke him up from the curse, but she's forcing him against us. He still wants to kill Emma"

Belle's face falls into despair immediately and tears begin streaming down her face. Rumpel grimaces angrily and the entire display rumbles with his anger.

"That woman will pay dearly," he hisses. "Where is she?"

"Right now, she's battling the barriers that Emma and I made, but they won't hold for long…"

The Dark One bites his lip before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

…

Elsewhere, Regina left the others to find her half-sister. She made it to the second level and found the wicked redhead dressed in black robes, a pointed hat and had emerald skin again.

"Still can't escape that, can you?" she mutters, shaking her head. "You'll always be green with envy." Although, this time she felt mostly sorry that her sister was dressed like this. The woman then pulls a phone from her pocket and snaps a quick picture before approaching the Wicked Witch of the West.

Regina then levitates Zelena to the ground and swallows, not sure if this will work. The two of them had never actually said "I love you," before and there was still animosity between them, but the witch had said that Regina was the only person, besides her daughter, she had left.

"You'll always be my sister," the former evil queen says. "I love you."

She then kisses the wicked witch's forehead. This wave does take a little bit more time, but it does come, freeing the woman from her atrocious prison.

Zelena blinks and then looks at Regina, who is still standing close to her.

"Did you just kiss me?" the red-head grimaces in disgust.

"It was the only way to free you. Don't worry, we won't speak of it again," the brunette says firmly.

"Agreed." She looks down at herself. "What am I wearing? Where's Robin?"

"Right here," Crystal says, approaching the two women.

"What happened to her?!" the mother gasps, she takes the little girl into her arm. Her eyes narrow in on Crystal for a moment, suspecting something.

"She's under the Black Fairy's Curse, you need to give her true love's kiss,"

Zelena looks at Crystal like she's lost her mind and bites her lip. She looks down at her daughter who seems to be in a peaceful sleep but isn't breathing. The witch feels herself hyperventilating, panicking, and fearing the worst for her little girl. Still hesitant about love, she kisses her child's forehead.

The wave washes over all of them and Robin opens her eyes. She smiles up at her mother, and gurgles, causing Zelena to break down into happy tears.

"The only thing you truly can love," Regina smirks, smiling at the reunion.

"Crystal," Zelena says. "Be a dear and hold Robin while Regina changes me out of these dreadful clothes."

Rumpelstiltskin's daughter nods and takes the happy infant into her arms while Regina gives her sister a much-needed makeover. Her green skin disappears and she's dressed in a sleek black outfit. The girl then hands the baby back to her mother.

…

Emma rushes into another exhibit hall, her eyes scan frantically for her husband. She finally sees him at the wheel of the massive pirate ship. Not hesitating any further, she runs up, tossing the dividing rope aside and climbs the stairs to the top deck. He looks very serious, holding his cutlass out at the very fake dummy of Peter Pan hanging from the ceiling. His hypnotic blue eyes look angry and he looks like the vengeful man he used to be. He's dressed in a red coat, but no hat and no perm, which makes her relieved. But no matter what he wears, she still loves him. Her eyes are filled with happy tears and she feels her heart is going to burst inside her chest. She leans in and kisses his cold lips.

The wave is instantaneous and Hook gasps for air before lowering his sword. He looks at the beautiful blonde in his arms.

"Emma!" he says. He immediately picks her up and spins her in his arms. Their lips meet and never separate. The two are crying in joy and are gasping for air, giving in to the passion for one another. Their hearts were bursting with happiness and their hands were all over one another. The last time they'd seen each other was at their wedding, just after their first dance. They weren't sure how much time had passed, but like Emma had said, they won and they were together again.

"I love you," Emma says between breaths.

"I love you too," he says.

Crystal walks in with a crowd of other people whom she and Regina had managed to free. She smiles, seeing the newlyweds on the fake pirate ship. It actually looked rather romantic, to see them on the ship. She felt much relief. It was love, after all, that was the power her mother had given her. She should never have doubted it. It's the love that keeps her balanced, made her a better person and it was love that united all of them. She feels like she's going to cry.

"What is he wearing?" Regina asks.

"As long as it's not the feathered hat, we're fine," Crystal responds. She then remembers what she needs to give the two.

She rushes over towards the happy couple. She clears her throat and the newlyweds look down at her.

"Crystal?" Killian says. "Long time no see."

"I'm sorry I missed your wedding," the girl says, sadness in her voice.

"It wasn't much of a party as you can tell," Emma says. "But you missing it is what saved us."

The two of them come down and embrace their friend.

"You're a saviour, Lass," Killian chimes in, hugging her tightly.

Crystal feels a swell of pride and a large amount of happiness filling her heart. This is what saved her and changed her life for the better.

"I found these and I think you might be needing them," Crystal says, pulling the two wedding bands from her pocket.

The newlyweds' eyes light up happily as their friend hands the rings to them.

"I guess you can see part of the wedding after all," Emma smiles.

She and Killian grasp hands, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes, before putting the rings back on each other's fingers. They then kiss again, sealing their vow of true love.

Crystal begins to cry in happiness, her grandmother had failed, she could never destroy the one thing that saved all of them…

There is suddenly a loud boom that rocks the entire room.

Crystal sees her father being blasted into this exhibit. He hits the fake crocodile before falling to the floor, weakened and hardly conscious. Belle immediately runs to his aid. The mood changes drastically as everyone goes on the defense before the smoke clears and a very evil woman appears out of the smoke.

 _A/N: It's not over yet. Did you like the moment when Rumpel is pushed into the crocodile, I thought that was a nice touch._


	20. Chapter 19: Destroy the Balance

Chapter 19: Destroy the Balance

Fiona walks into the main room like she's the special guest at a party. Her hands contain a lot of dark energy that puts everyone on edge. She stares at all the faces, smiling with satisfaction. Crystal helps her father stand up before turning to face her grandmother. Emma and Killian join the group and stand with her. Those with magic prepare for a fight while anyone else with a weapon is ready for the next attack.

"It's over," Crystal shouts at the black hearted woman. "Your curse is broken. You will never truly defeat love."

Fiona smiles. "I wouldn't say it's broken after all your precious Storybrooke no longer exists."

"That's an easy fix," Hook hisses. "All we have to do is kill you."

"Once the caster is dead, the curse is lifted. It's happened before," Emma says confidently.

"I'm afraid that won't work Saviour," the black fairy grins. "Besides, why should we be fighting when we know how this will end?"

The woman waves her hand and everyone, except Crystal, collapses, even Rumpelstiltskin falls unconscious. The only one still standing tries to remain brave and prepare to attack this demonic woman, whom she cannot believe that she is related to.

"What did you do?!" she shrieks.

Her grandmother chuckles. "It's quite simple really. Everyone who was exposed to the curse is now under my control. I have their lives in the palm of my hand and I can make them do whatever I please. It's so much easier than having to rip out all those hearts."

"Why did you do this?" the girl shouts angrily.

"It's my purpose, to destroy all light. It's what I was destined to do. Light cannot exist without the dark and it's finally time that the dark age to come. I just had to destroy that last glimmer of hope. The one who has done the impossible, balanced light and dark within themselves…"

The girl's eyes shift to understanding. "ME?!" she gasps.

"It took you long enough to figure that out. You, Crystal, manage to walk the fine line that exists between the two sources of power. Your father's darkness and mother's light made you that beacon, the controller of both elements. One cannot exist without the other and it's all because of you… You can maintain both sources. It is within your control. You give hope to those with darkness and cast a shadow to those with light. "

"That's not possible," Crystal cries.

"Oh, but it is and for me to win the Final Battle, I need to be at full power. To do that, I need to destroy the sense of balance, tip it in my favour."

Crystal takes a step back, her hands still glowing.

"I tried to do that years ago, bringing you to my realm so that light would never exist and you would only control the darkness. But your damned mother's love got in the way. I thought maybe Gideon would be the same; born of the Dark One and a hero, that the balance I needed to destroy was inside of him and then I could be at full power, but alas he was not. There was too much hope in him, he makes a fantastic puppet though."

Gideon appears next to his grandmother, giving his half-sister a death glare.

"I figured since he is destined to kill the Saviour, he's also destined to destroy the balance too."

Gideon stares Crystal with unblinking eyes. He then speaks. "It's because of you I was taken, tortured and destroyed. It's because of you I feel nothing and that I fell to the dark side. It's because of you I never knew what love felt like, to have my mother say those words to me and hug me. You grew up with the feelings of affection and care, while I with hate and fear. If only you had been taken first, then I could have lived the life my mother wanted me to…"

"Gideon, please," his sister begs.

"No tears please, I'd rather we'd settle this as it should be done,"

A sword appears in his hand.

"I won't fight you, Gideon."

"Then your death will be a simple victory for me. Once you are dead, the Saviour is next. Perhaps if Mother had succeeded the first time, you would be the one to kill Miss Swan, be that empty void you always have been."

"This isn't you, Gideon I love you. I woke you from the curse. I'm sorry you never got to feel the love growing up, but it's here now and I feel it for you."

"Your petty speeches move no one," he barks back.

"You can't make me fight him!" Crystal calls at her grandmother.

"Oh, but I can," A crystal ball appears in the dark entity's hand. It glows a bright red and pulses, like a heartbeat. "If you don't battle, I will kill everyone in this room. As soon as I crush this, everyone you love will be dead."

Rumpelstiltskin's daughter slowly takes another step away from her brother. "But you can't kill Emma, it's not fated."

"That is not true. I could kill her as easily as anyone else, but I do not mess with fate. However, everyone else will perish and I highly doubt Emma will forgive you for letting her parents, husband, baby brother, and son perish because you were too cowardly to fight."

Gideon steps forward, his sword raised and the tip pointing at his sister's neck. Crystal still refuses to arm herself or fight.

"You're just like your father, who is a coward at heart," the evil fairy taunts.

Crystal grinds her teeth together. "There's a large difference between being a coward and being a hero. Especially when you are given no choice."

"Let's see it then," the black fairy smiles. "Show me… hero."

The girl looks at her family and friends lying on the ground, all their lives hanging in the balance. She looks at her brother, his empty eyes showing no emotion or love, only hate and anger. Guilt surged through her, knowing that she was the reason he was consumed by the darkness and became this way. She swallows a lump in her throat before conjuring a sword in her hand. Tears fill her eyes at what she was being forced to do for her family and for her brother.

"Okay," she says quietly. "Come on Gideon! Let's play!"

 _A/N: It's not the final battle for Emma, but it might be Crystal's. Please review._


	21. Chapter 20: Battle for Them

Chapter 20: Battle for Them

Crystal takes another step back. She cannot believe she's being forced to fight her brother at the expense that everyone she loves will die. In addition to this, she has no experience in sword fighting whatsoever, while her brother grew up in the Dark Realm where he was probably forced to battle often for his life… She did have experience in street fighting. She had to learn to defend herself and had won many fights against other gangs and attackers. However, these were fist fights that did not involve medieval weaponry or battling someone she cared about.

Gideon swung his sword at her and she held the weapon up to block his attack. The dreaded sound of metal clashing with metal sends shivers up her spine. She locks eyes with her brother; he had their father's eyes, brown and at this moment soulless. She saw no remorse or conflict within him, just the aggression and intent to kill.

"Gideon please, you have to fight her…"

The response is another attack, much lower and she manages to block it. It takes a few more swings before she can speak again.

"You have to see that you do have love in your life. I'm sorry about what happened to you, but killing me won't bring back those 28 years."

Another clanking of swords. Gideon manages a side swipe, missing her abdomen, but tearing her shirt. It leaves a small cut and she winces in pain. It's obviously not enough to kill, but it stuns her. Crystal keeps walking backward, which is much harder with everyone's bodies in the way. She continually glances at her grandmother, who smiles as if her grandchildren are putting on the most entertaining show.

"She's just using you, the moment you kill me and Emma, she'll kill you too."

"STOP TALKING!" he barks.

"Come on Gideon," Fiona calls out. "Make this a little more interesting, I'm getting bored over here."

Crystal doesn't have time to react when Gideon forces her back with his magic. She goes flying and so does her sword as she sails over the fake ship and hits the back wall where the Neverland display is.

She sees stars and crumples to floor in utter agony. She shuts her eyes, just wanting to end this. She feels that familiar sensation of being torn between herself. If she kills her brother, her father will likely never forgive her, but if she doesn't, everyone else dies. If she lets Gideon kill her, the black fairy will gain the power she needs and Emma most certainly will die.

She uses her powers to heal herself and then sees her brother approaching. She slowly stands up again.

Gideon raises his hand to attack with magic again, but this time Crystal counteracts it with her own shield of power. A loud boom echoes through the exhibit hall as the two sources of power meet. The siblings look at each other for a moment before the brother tries another attack, this time with the sword. The sister snaps her fingers and immediately teleports away.

She ends up on the bridge of the pirate ship. Gideon turns and then uses his own magic to reach her location. He swings his sword again and cuts her cheek. She stumbles back towards the stern of the ship, dazed and in desperate need of a plan. She spies Hook's cutlass on the deck and she slides over to it, blocking her brother's next attack. She then teleports to the far side of the room, away from her brother and grandmother.

"You can't keep running," he shouts.

"Want to see me try?" she mutters, healing her face.

"She's a coward, just like your father is," the black fairy calls out.

Her heart is racing and her head is spinning. She has no idea how she's going to get out of this. No one is there to help her out of this impossible situation, this time she really is alone…

 _Almost…_

"For once I'm glad you're here," she hisses. She knows the only way she's going to be able to battle her grandmother is with dark magic. "Grandma is leaving me with very few choices."

 _So, I noticed._

Gideon materializes in front of her. Crystal holds out her hands, which are glowing a dark purple, she's putting all her anger into this next attack.

"I'm sorry Gideon," she mutters before the magic is released.

Her brother goes flying backward, sword leaving his hand and he hits the bow of the wooden ship. He crumples to the floor, stunned. She prays that he's temporarily out of commission so she can do something, but he gets back up and holds his hands out to counter attack. She blocks him and creates an orb of dark magic. Instead of aiming it at him, she throws it on the floor and the resulting explosion creates sparks and smoke that allows her to teleport again.

This time, Crystal ends up in the big tree in the Neverland exhibit. She has some temporary cover, allowing her mind to straighten everything else.

"Okay, so Grandma has Gideon's heart and is using him to kill me. She also has everyone under her spell, allowing her to kill anyone she wants. She needs me dead in order to gain ultimate power and allow Gideon to kill Emma."

 _Right,_

"So somehow I have to get my brother's heart back and then we have to break her hold over everyone."

She sighs and swallows as Fiona points to Gideon where she's hiding.

"If only there was a way to help him fight her control. She took him because he was vulnerable and wasn't…" something clicks in her mind. "Protected by love."

 _Are you sure it will work?_

"It's a long shot, but I have to try…"

"Come down and fight like the true hero that you claim to be," Gideon taunts at his sister. He raises his hands and tears the tree in two with his magic. Crystal teleports before it is completely destroyed.

She appears a few meters from him. She swallows, needing just a few seconds to say these words.

"I should have said this at the very beginning… If you don't stop, and if I don't kill you, everyone will die, even Dad and Belle. Your mother… the woman who's always loved you…

This makes him pause and she sees a flicker of detection in her brother's eyes. She sees some of that emotion come back and his dark eyes soften a little bit. The love he had for his mother, it's what protected him all these years, prevented him from succumbing to the Black Fairy completely. He knew that more than anything else, Belle loved him. She did everything in her own power to protect him from danger, even if it wasn't enough to prevent him from being taken. The book that he had kept with him all those years was the symbol of love, the care, and devotion she had for her first-born son. Even though she wasn't there all the time, a piece of her was in him, that watched over him and gave him hope.

He hesitates for several moments, thinking about the consequences of his actions might be. Those few moments were all she needed to act.

When he looks up again, his sister has vanished. He turns in time to see a flash of gold and chain go around his neck. He swings his sword, slicing Crystal's side, but it was too late. She'd done what she needed to do. She staggers back a few steps, holding her side which was now bleeding, but she's smiling.

He tries to take the chain off, but something stops him. Gideon felt a warmth inside of himself. A feeling that had not been felt for a very long time. It made him feel stronger, braver, but also calmer… he was at peace with himself. He felt like his own person and that he could fight… for good.

Crystal begins to heal her side and she smiles at him. The wound was deep and she was struggling to heal it fast enough. Her head began to swim and her legs felt weak. Blood was now starting to pool at her feet.

"I love you, Gideon," she whispers.

"I…love you too…"

"What are you doing?!" Fiona barks. "You aren't supposed to say that!" She pulls Gideon's heart out and talks into it.

"I will make you feel the pain of revenge," she says into it.

However, Gideon doesn't say it. He looks down at the golden necklace and looks at the engraved name on it. _Lillian_ withina heart that seemed to glow in its own light and beat at its own pace. He sees his sister struggling and then goes over to help her.

With their combined powers, Rumpelstiltskin's daughter is healed. She grasps her brother's hand for a moment and smiles at him. He returns the gesture and then both of them turn towards the woman they had to call "Grandma."

"W-What are you doing?! You cannot disobey me!" the woman screeches. She tries to give his heart a squeeze to have him comply, instead it stays solid and her "puppet" doesn't even flinch.

Fiona's own black heart begins to beat very quickly as she becomes panicked. She tries to crush the heart, but it feels like she's trying to squash a thick, red stone. The organ continues to glow and beat strongly despite her attempts to crumble it to dust. It was just like the Saviour's heart now, she couldn't kill her prey.

"On three…" Crystal whispers to him. "One… two… three…"

Both individuals disappear before the black fairy's sight. For the first time, she felt scared as her plan was somehow backfiring on her. Her grandson, whom she used to do the fighting and her dirty work, had now turned against her somehow. She couldn't understand why he hadn't obeyed her orders. She takes a step back, still holding the heart in her hands. The two don't reappear and Fiona becomes even more nervous. She quickly replaces her grandson's heart and instead pulls out the crystal orb, holding everyone's life in the balance.

"You may be able to save your brother, but you cannot save the rest of your family," she calls out.

She begins crushing the crystal ball in her hand and the people laying asleep begin to grimace and groan in pain at their hearts being squeezed.

Suddenly, two blasts of magic come out of nowhere and knock the woman off her feet. Her hand lets go of the crystal ball and she lands on the floor in the adjacent room.

Crystal and Gideon appear out of thin air and they smirk at the woman as she tries to get to her feet again, but struggles in her ridiculously long dress. Crystal picks up the glass orb and sees that it's only slightly cracked, it still glows red and pulsates. Everyone is still alive.

Once Fiona is back on her feet, she confronts her grandchildren.

"You were right Grandma," Crystal says. "Light cannot exist without dark, and I was the keeper of that. I cannot die because, without me, your magic would no longer be dark or exist. And like you said before, I keep the balance which means I had to give Gideon that hope again. Bring him back to stability. You also told me that my mother's love protected me all those years ago and I knew that this was one of the reason's why."

Her mother's locket glows slightly on her brother's chest. "It's always been a symbol of love, and protects the wearer from harm and you know who made it… your own son…"

Fiona glares at the two of them and raises her arms to cast her own magic. The two going flying backward and land against the door frames. Both groan, until Crystal realizes she dropped the crystal ball.

"NO!" she shrieks and tries to run for the object... but Fiona conjures the glass orb into her hands and without a second thought, crushes it into dust.

But Fiona conjures the glass orb into her hands and without a second thought, crushes it into dust.

 _A/N: OH NO! What's going to happen next?!_


	22. Chapter 21: It was a Good Trick

Chapter 21: It was a Good Trick

The Black Fairy laughs evilly as the dust of the crystal ball slowly falls from her hand onto the floor. Crystal stares on in horror, her mouth agape and her breath comes out heavily. Gideon stands up from the attack, stunned over what had just happened. His heart filled with much remorse that he never got to tell his mother he loved her. He couldn't believe that he'd been forced to work for such a black-hearted woman. Granted, he had no choice at the time, but now he could see how truly evil she was. The woman did not hesitate to kill many innocent lives, including her own son. He immediately turns to his sister who is still laying on the floor.

"So, ends the residents of Storybrooke, all that is left is to give me the darkness…" Fiona announces, cackling to herself mostly.

However, her granddaughter's breathing gets quicker and quicker almost like she's laughing. A smile forms on her face as she stands up from the floor. Gideon looks at her with much confusion and anger, considering that their father and his mother were just killed, along with everyone else she cared about. Crystal's laugh begins to get louder and louder until it echoes off the walls of the exhibit. It sounds joyful and happy, despite the horrific event that has just occurred.

Fiona is taken aback by this reaction considering this girl had put her life on the line to save everyone, but she seems to be rejoicing over their deaths. Perhaps she truly was evil, or the dark side had taken over completely. She might have to switch puppets now.

"What is wrong with you?" Gideon shouts at her. He clenches his fists. If his sister truly was evil, he'd rather feel nothing. He's about to rip the locket off when Crystal's hand comes up and stops him.

She looks at her brother with gleeful eyes and then smirks.

Suddenly, there is movement behind them. Rumpel's son turns to see everyone rising from the floor. He blinks hard to ensure he's not hallucinating, but sure enough, everyone from Storybrooke and the other enchanted lands are helping one another up off the floor.

"Mother!" he shouts and rushes to her. His father is helping her to her feet and he embraces both of them tightly.

"G-Gideon?!" Belle asks in confusion.

"It's me mother, I'm back," he says.

Rumpel's eyes go from his son's chiseled face to the locket around his neck. He reaches out to touch it before he looks at his daughter still standing in the doorway. She looked triumphant.

Hook helps Emma to her feet and the two kiss once more. Charming and Snow do the same, wrapping their arms around one another. Regina hugs Henry tightly, while Zelena cradles her daughter gently. Aladdin and Jasmine hold onto one another while Anna kisses Kristoff before embracing her sister. Merida gathers her bow and arrow, arming herself in case there is another attack, while Mulan greets Dorothy and Ruby. Ruby embraces her Grandmother tightly while Archie and Marco talk to August who has been returned to adult form.

The moments of happy bliss are quite short lived as Fiona looks on in bewilderment.

"T-That's impossible!" she shouts.

Her outburst has everyone on guard, all those with magic raise their hands and everyone else arms themselves with whatever they can find.

The Black Fairy stares at the now angry crowd of people very confused about what has just transpired. Crystal smirks and faces her grandmother once again.

"A-All of them should be dead!" the fairy shouts. "I-I crushed the life source… t-that crystal ball…"

"Oh, you mean this?" Crystal asks, pulling the pulsating orb from her pocket. It glows a very bright red as she holds it up for everyone to see.

"H-How?" she looks down at the crystal dust on the floor and then at her son's daughter.

"Simple… You grabbed the wrong crystal ball. The one you crushed was a gift from a friend of mine with a glamor spell on it."

The woman's eyes are wide, unable to comprehend that her granddaughter just tricked her, and what an amazing trick it was. Very devious and certainly ingenious. She can't help but be impressed. Fiona swallows a large lump in her throat, staring at the angry mob of fairy tale characters, but then she somehow manages a small smile.

"Very clever my child, very clever… A trick your father would've been proud of, but you still forget, you break that, you kill everyone and complete the curse. It won't be broken that easily and I still have this…" she pulls out Gideon's heart again.

Rumpel raises his hands to try and attack his mother. The anger he felt was overwhelming. He had always been skeptical of the deal he'd made with her, with the promise of his son's heart returned and safety from the final battle, but it confirmed his suspicions when she released the dark curse on the town. He may have deceived the heroes into happy bliss, but he himself had been deluded. She'd betrayed him at the last moment and had allowed all of them swept up in the curse. She separated him from Belle and still had his son's heart. All her sweet-talk about hope and finally being a family was all a lie. He knew their only hope from being free was his daughter, who had proven repeatedly to him to be just like her mother, stubborn, clever, and caring. She truly was the embodiment of both of their better halves; gifted, and wise from him, loving and hopeful from her.

He hurtles flames at her out of pure rage, but she vanishes in a plume of dark smoke. She manages to laugh once more before her presence was completely gone from the building.

"Where do you think the witch went?" Merida asks.

"Probably someplace safe," Rumpel mutters grimly.

"What do we do now?" Belle asks. She looks at her son and holds him tightly. "She still has his heart…"

"And there's no telling what she'll make him do," Regina says, looking over at Emma, who keeps herself close to Killian.

"He's safe as long as he wears the locket," Crystal says, turning to everyone. "It's a symbol of love and it protects the wearer's heart."

Rumpel manages a small knowing smile to his daughter, happy that this creation was proving to be more useful than its original intention. He'd made it as a gift to Crystal's mother, but it also had a powerful spell on it, it would protect its wearer from harm. He made specifically in case his affair with Lillian was ever discovered by her husband and he tried to harm her.

"But how do we get back to our worlds?" Jasmine asks. "Agrabah will fall apart if we're not there,"

"As will Arendelle," Elsa says.

"And you're still all connected to this orb," Gideon adds, which was still in his sister's hands. Crystal has cast a protection spell on the orb to protect it from falling into her grandmother's hands again.

"Additionally, Storybrooke is gone," Crystal swallows.

"W-WHAT?!" Snow gasps. Many other people of the town join in the shock.

"The Black Fairy's Curse wiped out its existence," the girl says sadly.

"Are you sure?" Emma asks.

"I watched it happen," Crystal sighs. "It no longer exists."

"Does that mean we have to cast another dark curse?" Henry asks.

Regina swallows. The last time she cast it, she was forced to kill her father. She certainly couldn't do it again, given she's be forced to kill her son. Snow was the same way, she did not want to cast it again. She'd temporarily lost David during that time and even now, they both shared a heart. Killian had done it, finding a loophole by killing Merlin, Nimue's true love, but he still regretted his actions once the darkness had been removed from him. Many of the other members of Storybrooke look at one another. No one wanted to go through that again, but there might not be any other option.

"There has to be another way," Killian says, gravely, trying to remain hopeful.

"I wish there was another way to reverse the curse," Crystal mutters.

Suddenly, a bright light appears at the entrance to the exhibit. Everyone turns and shield their eyes as it seems to be coming towards them.

"What the bloody hell is that?" the pirate of the group asks, keeping his hand around Emma's.

Then the light fades and forms into a shape. Once the light is gone, a person stands several feet from everyone and most of their eyes go wide in confusion. There is only one person in the group who recognizes the figure.

"Oh, my…"

 _A/N: Who do you think it is? Please review._


	23. Chapter 22: To Break A Curse

Chapter 22: To Break A Curse

"M-Mr. Morrible," Crystal gasps.

Sure enough, the aged old seer stands at the entrance to the exhibit. He walks towards the face he recognizes. His eyes seem to glow slightly under his thick spectacles. He also wears a slight grin on his face as he approaches the large group of individuals.

"Hello again, young Crystal," he says. "I think an introduction is in order."

"Oh right," she turns to everyone around her, who all look very bewildered by the sudden appearance of this very old man. "Everyone, this is Mr. Morrible. He's a seer from the Enchanted Forest, but he's been living in this land for a long time. He helped me get here to rescue all of you."

"What's a seer?" Zelena asks.

"I've never heard of such a thing," Belle adds.

"Unfortunately, we are a dying breed," Argus says, adjusting his spectacles to get a clearer view of the crowd. "We are something similar to oracles, with the ability to see parts of the future, but we often gain most of our knowledge through the protection and preservation of many objects…"

"He's a bit like you Dad," Crystal cuts in. "Except he doesn't kill to take things."

Rumpel glares spitefully at his daughter, but he still cannot remove his eyes from this fascinating man.

"Regardless," the seer says. "I knew that I would be needed by a dark entity's daughter in the hopes of rescuing her loved ones."

Crystal manages a small smile. Argus Morrible seems to examine each person under his spectacles before looking back at his young companion.

"But, what are you doing here Mr. Morrible?" Crystal asks. "You already helped me."

"Well, when your crystal ball was broken, this told me that you were in great danger…"

"But how did you get here?"

"I have my ways," he winks at her.

The girl wants to press him further but decides to let it go.

"I came here because I may have the solution to breaking the curse,"

"You do?" Emma gasps.

"How?" Regina presses.

"With this…" he pulls out a vial of black dust from his leather apron.

Crystal immediately recognizes it.

"What is it?" Henry asks.

"It's remnants of the Black Fairy's Curse," Crystal says. "I managed to get a sample of it back in Maine."

"So why does he have it?" David asks.

"A good question dear Charming," Argus Morrible says with glee in his eye. This takes David aback by what the man just said, using Snow's nickname for him.

"I gave it to him as a thank you for helping me and I was hoping he might find a way to break the curse if I couldn't," Rumpel's daughter explains.

"But it seems that you managed to that all on your own," the old man grins. Crystal returns his crooked smile.

"Well, it's not completely broken," Zelena says, stating the obvious. "We're still here and Storybrooke is not."

"Aye, we're still very much in danger," Hook adds.

"Well, after you left Crysta,l I saw that my purpose had not been fully served just yet. I thought about your request for me to come up with another method to break the curse."

"And have you?" Rumpel asks.

"Almost," Mr. Morrible says. "I still need several items in order for it to succeed in freeing all of you."

"What are they?" Snow asks.

"I'm going to need that crystal orb that keeps you under the black fairy's control,"

Crystal is about to hand it over, when Emma puts her hand on over the girl's wrist, stopping her.

"How do we now you're not working for The Black Fairy?" the saviour asks skeptically.

Crystal is surprised. "Emma, he helped me get what I needed in order to find and free you. He did it without asking for anything in return, unlike some people…"

Rumpel rolls his eyes, very much used to his daughter's attitude.

"The Saviour is right to be suspicious," Argus says gently. He grins at Emma from under his glasses. "You have been betrayed too often. This came from your youth of being handed from family to family. You are right not to give into something willingly. The skepticism is valuable, including your detection of dishonesty."

Emma takes a step back, completely floored that this total stranger had just revealed her superpower as well as most of her childhood. She swallows carefully.

"Most magic does come at a price; however, my deals are more simple and come with very little consequence. Nevertheless, the ability to break this particular curse will require some sacrifice."

"What kind of sacrifice?" Crystal asks nervously.

"Your mother's locket will be required for the reversal of the curse. This, of course, will leave your brother at the mercy of a wicked woman."

"N-No!" Belle screeches. "There has to be another way!"

"I'm afraid there isn't and trust me, I've looked at all alternatives. Your son will be unprotected again, but this does not mean his heart will not be restored."

"Y-You mean I'll get my heart back?" Gideon asks, hope gleaming in his eyes.

Mr. Morrible winks. "You shall be restored to who you were meant to be."

Gideon smiles, but Crystal is still skeptical. "Does this mean my locket will be destroyed?"

Argus' smile fades and he looks at the girl with his gray eyes. He seems very sympathetic with his gaze. Crystal begins to tear up. One of the last few connections she had to her mother would have to be destroyed. She wanted to cry out that there must be another way, but she knew there wasn't.

"In addition, a human will have to give his life as well."

The room becomes dead silent. The horrible words spoken by this man has created a pall of fear around everyone. They'd already lost so much already and they were about to lose yet another. No one wants to ask, no one wants to know. Emma is afraid it might be her, she'd much rather do it than have Hook sacrifice himself again. Regina thinks it might be her, as retribution for all her past sins. Belle fears that it might be Rumpel or her son, but Crystal knows that it will be her. She was saved from the curse and was likely fated to break it. And now she knows that the only way for Emma to ever be able to defeat the Black Fairy and win the final battle is for the balance of dark and light to be destroyed. She was the source of it, just like her grandmother said, but instead of giving the black hearted woman the edge, she'd give it Emma. The girl's sacrifice would be out of love, not hate like Gideon was being forced to do, meaning light could triumph. She continues to cry gently, very afraid knowing that she has to do it. It was the only way.

"W-Who is it?" Henry finally manages to ask.

The anxiety of the answer filling the room.

 _A/N: Sorry if this chapter is a bit shorter. Please follow and review._


	24. Chapter 23: A Loving Sacrifice

Chapter 23: A Loving Sacrifice

"It's me," Crystal says into the silent room.

"NO!" her father screams. Everyone else's reaction is very similar.

Emma, Hook, Henry, Regina, Snow, and David also all rush over to her. Emma wraps her arms around Crystal. "No, no…no… no…" she sobs. "No… there has to be another way."

"There must be," Snow says, keeping her arms around the girl.

"You heard Mr. Morrible, there isn't."

"I'll do it, take me instead," her father blurts out, without even thinking about it. He'd much rather give his own life for his child than let her do it for him. She was not worthy of his love and yet she still cared for him. She reached out to him and made him feel like a father again. Made him realize what's really important.

"No!" she says firmly. "There was a reason I was saved. I was meant to break the curse completely and if that means I need to give my life up, I will… I-It's what heroes do." She says this mostly to convince herself.

"No, heroes do many other things besides that, you shouldn't have to give your life for something you didn't do," Regina says.

"Robin did it for you," the girl says sadly. Her heart is beating at an alarming rate and her stomach is twisted into an impossible knot. She never thought she would ever die so young, but dying for those she loved seemed like a very good reason. She was very scared, petrified even. It was a horrible reality to face, but it still felt right. Killian did it before, so did Robin, Ingrid, Neal, her mother, and many others who sacrificed themselves to be the heroes they wanted to be. She wanted to be remembered that way, no matter what.

"Crystal, you can't do that," the saviour says.

"But if I make a sacrifice for love, you'll win the final battle Emma," Crystal says through teary eyes. "You can't give up on your happy beginning." The girl looks down at Emma's wedding ring and then up at Killian and Henry. She then explains what the Black Fairy had told her, about her purpose and even her entire existence.

Everyone listens with heavy hearts, but they still insist that Crystal not give herself up to reverse the curse.

"No," Rumpel sobs angrily. "I already lost Lillian, I'm not going to lose you too."

"Crystal, we barely know each other," Gideon adds. "But you saved me, you're my sister. You can't do this."

"Aye, you're too important to give up like this," Killian says. He puts his hand on her shoulder.

"We don't know what we'd do without you," David says.

"You have so much to live for," Snow weeps.

"That she does," Mr. Morrible says, interrupting the tearful huddle. Everyone looks at him, some already feeling animosity towards him.

"Why must it be her?!" Belle whimpers.

"It isn't," the old man says. "The dear child only assumed that it would be. It shows what a brave a pure heart she has. It shows how much she cares about all of you. She shows herself as a real hero."

Crystal is surprised and slightly happy about the seer's words. It made her feel confident and at peace that she was truly a hero, despite all of her mistakes.

"Then who is it then?" David asks.

"Me," Mr. Morrible answers.

"WHAT?!" Crystal shouts. She's shocked. Hardly relieved that it wasn't her, but still very distressed. "No! It can't be you."

"But it is," he says, in an eerily calm voice.

"I won't let you," the girl argues.

"It is pointless to argue with fate dear child."

Crystal breaks from her family and goes to hug the old man.

"B-But why?" Crystal asks.

"It is my time," he answers. "I have been alive for centuries dear child, but like all beings, I am not permanent. It is time for me to join the others in the afterlife."

"Did…did you foresee that?" she asks quietly.

The man smiles but does not answer. "You have a long life to live child, all of you do, with many adventures to come. I, myself, have had many of my own and it is time to put my spirit at rest. I've been wandering the realms for many years, collecting what I can, but seeking no connections. You, dear Crystal, have made the ties that are worth keeping for a very long time. Look at what you did when you believed in yourself."

Crystal gazes at her surrounding loved ones, their faces, each one worth so much to her. It's hard to believe that she was once a loner with nothing going for herself. She had been cold and bitter to the world because of what she was and would always live with the regret that she killed her mother. But, in a way, she gained so much more. She'd found her father, she had a step-mother and half-brother too. Snow and David were also like a mother and father to her, Emma was like her sister. Henry was her best friend, Regina was her mentor and confidante, Killian was a trusted friend. Even Zelena had a soft spot for the girl in her heart. She had friends galore in this tiny town, learned to control her magic and find that happily ever after she was looking for… or happy beginning. She'd always miss her mother, but she had so much more; people who were here for her, just like she was there for them.

Crystal hugs the old man very tightly.

"Are you afraid?" she asks quietly.

"A little bit, but death is as natural as life. It's part of what makes us special as human beings, our lives are a gift, a blessing, a wonderful thing. But it is how we use that gift, that will tell us when we are ready to go…"

Mr. Morrible smiles at the girl, centuries of wrinkles forming into this tired look of gratitude. "Thank you, my child, for making my last mission a special one. I made a connection worth keeping and to serve the good of others is worth every moment of my existence."

The two hug again. Mr. Morrible then stands up to face the crowd.

"Once the spell is cast, none of you will remember what happened, you will all think that it was some bizarre dream and the story in the author's book will say something different. It's an unfortunate side effect and… the final battle has yet to take place. This building will no longer exist and anyone who actually saw the exhibits will think it was something else entirely. You will all be returned to where you belong so I advise that you say your goodbyes now before Crystal helps me reverse the curse. Before we do though, I'd like to speak to some of you alone if you would not mind."

Once Argus is done his speech, he goes over to Belle and grabs the young woman's hands.

"You truly are a vision of beauty. Your eyes have gained much knowledge, but they have also seen great suffering. You will never give up on love and that is your greatest strength. I foresee for you an opportunity to start anew with the family you always wanted and a chance to spread that knowledge further."

Belle smiles at the old man, grateful for his words. "Thank you," she says. She then turns to hug her son tightly, knowing the next time she saw him, he'd still be bent on killing Emma. Crystal also hugs Gideon tightly.

"I hope we'll get to know each other better," she says.

"Me too, little sister," Gideon says with a smile.

"Big," she corrects.

"Not anymore," he grins. The two share a small laugh.

Mr. Morrible goes up to the Dark One and shakes the man/demon's hand.

"To meet a Dark One, at last, is quite an accomplishment," Argus says.

"I do not get that very often," Rumpel admits.

"You may have been seen as a coward before, but that heart has endured quite a lot since those days. You may see yourself like that still, which I'm afraid can never be permanently removed. It can, however, be changed. You have done much to protect your son for the past little while and you will get another chance with him. You've been given that second chance that you often longed for centuries. Your daughter is one of those chances and she is much like you, only maintaining a balance. She brings that out in you, and you must apply that to your wife and son too. You and I could have an eternal conversation, sharing tales and relics, but my time has come, yours has not. You have a great decision to come, one that will decide many people's fates. I have great faith that you will make that right choice. Also, immortality will not be yours forever. You will find a way to live a fulfilling life and will one day face my decision. I pray that you keep that love in your heart."

Rumpelstiltskin is stunned and very impressed by the seer's words. He partly wishes he had time to talk to this man more, but he merely nods and gives thanks to the man quietly.

Next, the old seer pulls aside Snow White, who is talking with Ruby, Dorothy, and Granny. She gives the man a loving hug.

"I appreciate that my fair child," he says. "You have always believed in love and used the goodness of your heart to help others. You have endured much hardship but will still manage to be prosperous. Your heart is a great thing and you will continue to spread that love to everyone you meet. I see a calm and peaceful existence with the family you were meant to have."

Snow smiles, her eyes tearing up a bit. She kisses her son's head. "Thank you for your kind words and for everything that you've done."

The man smiles and then goes to her husband.

"You, my son, have faced many equal hardships, but your determination and your love has always been your guide. Your devotion and need to protect those you care about will always be useful and your greatest ally. I see a lovely and pleasant future filled with compassion and love."

David smiles and shakes the old man's hand. "I can't tell you how grateful I am for what you are doing. You will be seen as a hero to all."

The seer then goes to Regina, who has her arm around Henry as they talk to Aladdin and Jasmine, as well as Tinker Bell. He kisses the queen's hand and gazes into her deep, brown eyes.

"Your path has never been easy, and yet you have found prosperity. Your endurance and fortitude are greater than anyone I have ever met. Loss is an unfortunate part of existence, but you manage to find a light, a great light. Your metamorphosis is a great symbol to all and a hopeful beacon for those to follow. You have much to teach others and still another journey to go. I foresee love will cross your path again, one that will not be perfect, but worth keeping all the same."

Regina gives the man a great hug and kiss on the cheek. She feels much hope within herself and the mention of love gets her excited and hopeful for a good future.

"I will be prepared for this journey and take your words to heart," she says, contently.

Argus then faces Henry, his youngest of scribes.

"Your heart is the purest, as is your belief. Your hope is infectious and your greatest tool to use. Your knack for storytelling will take you far in life. Your endless patience and loving demeanor will allow you to start a new life and create one as well. The future I see for you will have a mix of both light and dark, but if you choose to heed the light, then you will go very far. Keep those stories close to your heart because they will be invaluable to those you love."

Henry is slightly confused by the man's words, his mind trying to decipher everything, but he smiles and gives the old man a hug.

Mr. Morrible then approaches Killian and Emma, who are talking with Elsa and Anna. The seer takes the former pirate aside.

"My turn?" he says with a mischievous grin.

"Aye, aye captain," the bespectacled man smiles. "Your losses have taken a great toll on you because you have a caring soul. Hardened was your heart, but not your soul. Your quests for vengeance may have defined you for so long, but you have now forged your own path. Love has changed you in the greatest of ways. You've been lost and found again several times, but in the end, you've become a man of honour and respect. Your future will be quite bright. It is only the beginning and though there may be a time of separation, you will find her again. Love will always shine through. There is hope for a new life and bundle of joy to come. I foresee new adventures, bringing your connections closer and strengthening your love."

Hook smiles and shakes the old man's hand. He was looking forward to a life with his beloved Emma and the idea of starting anew was greatly pleasing.

The aged Argus then approaches the saviour. She swallows hard and wants to ignore the man. However, he takes her hand gently and looks into her worried green eyes.

"Trust has been the hardest for you as your journey has hardly been easy. You are willing to take chances for love and that endurance has always paid off. You will not shut out the world as much as you once did. Your title is not just who you are, fate is an ally, but not the omnipotent speaker. You fight for what is yours and I know you will do it again. Your anxiety is justified by what is to come, however, your light is the strongest I have ever seen. The love you have will be your path to victory and once it is done, a happy beginning, with a new, small life will be yours to cherish. Every step is yours to take and I know you will fulfill the life you wish to live."

Emma's heart pounds loudly. The man's words gave her hope that she would survive the final battle, but they were also slightly cryptic. She knew she had a new start with Killian, a future she'd never thought she'd see coming, but she was happy. She was still afraid, but not of love anymore.

The saviour kisses the old man on the forehead to show gratitude.

"Thank you," she says quietly, before going to join her husband.

The last one is his connection, the young girl who found him in her time of need.

He grabs the girl's hands and she looks into his gray eyes.

"I'm going to miss you," she says.

"As will I, you truly have become something your mother would be proud of. Your need for balance is what makes you worth keeping here in this life. Your love is the warmth inside the others around you. The way you were willing to sacrifice yourself shows how much you've grown and how you've made something irreplaceable and vital to your existence. Life may not always be easy for you, but the step you take in the right direction will allow you to thrive. I am grateful to have met and shared this adventure with you. You made my existence significant, more than you can ever hope to comprehend… I foresee new adventures, ones that allow you to find love and a time of happiness. Just always remember to remain balanced and loved."

Crystal is in tears and she hugs the old man very tightly. She would never have managed to free her family if it wasn't for this man. He made this journey much easier and he'd taught her a lot about herself and the world around them. A thought suddenly occurs to her and she swallows.

"Y-You said that we wouldn't remember anything after the curse was broken, d-does that mean I won't remember you…"

Argus Morrible doesn't answer. He merely pats the girl's back before breaking their hug.

"That I am not sure of, so I'd like to leave you with these." To her surprise, he removes his thick spectacles and hands them to her. His gray eyes look quite tiny now that they were not magnified by the lenses. They were gentle and very aged, but she wanted to remember them. They were producing tears of their own as he gives her yet another grateful smile. She kisses the man on the cheek, still clinging to his glasses.

"I won't forget you, I can't," she says. She holds the glasses in her hands and then looks at the man. "Let's break this curse."

 _A/N: A heart-wrenching scene, but worth it in the end. In some of these prophecies are what I think might happen in Season 7 of Once. I'm bummed that not all of the cast is coming back, but I'm still open to new ideas. Please review._


	25. Chapter 24: The Greatest Hero

Chapter 24: The Greatest Hero

Mr. Morrible then begins to direct the young sorceress on how to break the curse and the ingredients needed to do so. The spell was very complicated considering they were basically reversing a curse. Some of the ingredients included a watch that would turn back the clock, this was provided by Archie, a sample of pure pixie dust to add extra power, which Tinkerbelle gave, a sample of the Saviour's hair to purify the magic, a drop of her father's blood as a connection of whose curse they were reversing and a tear, given to them by Henry for the need to end the victim's suffering. Crystal approaches her brother and hugs him one more time before they begin casting the spell.

"I'm having Father knock me out and hopefully I won't come to until the curse is broken," Gideon explains, preparing to remove the necklace.

"I love you, Gideon," she says.

"I love you too Crystal," he nods. He then turns to Belle and Rumpel to say goodbye too.

"We will see you again," Belle promises tearfully.

"I have faith in you Mother, you too, Father."

Rumpel hugs his son tightly, not saying anything.

Just as he grabs the locket, the young man looks over at Emma.

"I'm sorry for everything that I did to you, Emma. I know we definitely got off on the wrong foot but this is from my heart… I'm just sorry for everything that happened and might happen. Just know that it's not me."

The saviour swallows very hard and fights back nervous tears. She clings to Killian's hand tightly and just nods, her heart racing from the uncertainty of her fate.

"Ready?" Rumpel asks.

His son nods. Slowly, the young man removes the golden locket from around his neck. Everyone can see the dramatic shift in his mood the moment it leaves his chest. His brown eyes become dead again as he can no longer feel much emotion. He slowly hands it to his sister before Rumpel waves his hand, causing Gideon to collapse on the floor unconscious.

Crystal clutches the necklace in her hand tightly. Tears form in her eyes and she feels a lump in her throat. She opens the small golden heart one last time to see the picture of her and her mother inside. The happy memory fills her thoughts as she goes towards the elderly seer. She rubs her thumb over the name _Lillian_. This piece of jewelry had been her beacon of hope for so long, her shining light in a world of darkness. Her symbol of true love and for the longest time, her only connection to her mother, Lillian Miller. The bravest woman she'd ever met. Not only had she sacrificed everything for those she loved, she was able to love not one monster, but two.

She kisses the name once more before handing it to Mr. Morrible.

"Now, I need you to create a circle on the floor with your magic," Argus instructs.

Crystal looks at her family and friends behind her, they all give her forced smiles. She had managed to save all these people from a terrible fate; one could claim she was a Saviour in her own right, the balance between light and dark. She nods to them.

"See you on the other side," she says.

She then creates a large circle on the marble floor of the exhibit. It glows a very bright purple and the entire room lights up with its energy. Everything else seems to become irrelevant at this moment as she holds her hands out to give the circle enough power. She watches as the Seer performs the next steps.

He throws the dust of the last curse into the circle, the black particles float in the center, suspended in the air inside. It blows around like ash falling from the sky.

"You need to activate the dust again," he says.

Crystal waves her hands back and forth until the dark powder seems to thicken and swirl in various directions. It becomes more sinister and threatening, lashing against the walls of this cone of magic, but it remains trapped within the circle.

For the next step, Argus Morrible blows the pixie dust into the circle. The two sources of power meet and makes the ground shudder with the impact. The golden pixie dust mixes with the dark curse, it becomes a blizzard of fine powder, good vs. evil it seemed. The old man then smashes the watch in the center of the circle and the dust ceases all movement, suspended in animation. He tosses the sample of Rumpel's blood into the glowing circle. It forms a puddle on the floor and radiates a bright red light for a moment before changing to a black pool of fluid at the base of the dust.

He gestures for the girl to come closer to him.

Once she's by his side, he tells her the next part. He has her hold out her hand and open the locket. Once she does so, he pours the vial containing the tear onto the picture of mother and child. The drop seems to react to the source of love, causing the whole thing to glow a faint blue. Mr. Morrible adds the Saviour's hair to the center of the necklace, crystallizing the surface and affecting the light, making it glow white.

"Close it now," he instructs.

She does so, with some difficulty. She assumes it must be the power the mixture is producing. The light is shining through the cracks of the locket and even through the name _Lillian_ on its surface.

Crystal fights back her tears, afraid of the next part.

Mr. Morrible then takes the piece of jewelry from her.

"You now must pull out my heart," he tells her.

The girl gasps. She'd seen this done before by other people and it was the most unpleasant sight. Even Regina admits she hated reaching into someone's chest to extract their vital organ.

"I…I can't…" she whispers through the tears. The idea of taking another person's life again made her want to pass out or die herself. Tears are flowing down her face now.

The old man grabs her arm and squeezes it.

"I will be okay,"

Bracing herself, she plunges her hand into his chest until she finds the heart. As gently as she can manage, she pulls it out of his chest. Her stomach flips and she feels like she wants to throw up. She can scarcely look at the source of someone's life, the thing that keeps them alive. The fist-sized thing is beating slowly, it seems smaller and more worn out than the average heart. There are several black spots littering its surface indicating darkness but glows strongly with each pulsation.

"Many hearts must become one…" he says.

"What does that mean?" she asks.

"You must put the source of power in the center of the heart…"

"B-But how?"

Her hand holding the heart is shaking erratically. She's so afraid and so sad, her emotions are like a tornado destroying her insides.

Just then, the circle begins to flicker unevenly. The ground shakes slightly, nearly knocking the two off balance.

"You must remain calm," Mr. Morrible insists.

"I…I can't" she whimpers.

"Yes, you can," he insists. "You must. Your strength is needed"

More tears flow down her face. She thinks about the people who need to get back home, the loved ones that are waiting for her. It still didn't feel right to take someone's life like this… **again**.

The seer takes the girl's empty hand and waves it over the red heart. A small hole appears. It obviously causes some type of damage as the old man keels over in pain. Crystal reaches out to help him.

"No!" he shouts, practically on his knees now. "P-Put the crystal ball in the center… there is not much time…to…"

Swallowing all the bile in her mouth and she inserts the orb into the hole in the heart.

Almost immediately the heart closes up again, the sphere containing everyone else's source of life glows white in the center. The heart becomes brighter and brighter, shining a bright red. It becomes hot in her hands.

The man then takes the organ from the trembling girl. He holds it tightly, knowing that his time was coming…

"You must put the locket in the center of the dust," he orders.

Crystal Lillian Miller looks down at the locket she loved so much, knowing this would be the last time she'd ever see it. She tosses it into the suspended dust.

Everything seems to change in that moment, the locket becomes pure white light; the solid gold object dissolving in white dust. It then purifies everything around it until it looks like it's snowing inside the circle. The earth shakes again and a great gust of wind begins blowing everything around the source of the spell. The circle then becomes a solid beacon of light, stretching out and lasering a hole through the roof. It reaches out into the sky, a streak of pure whiteness over a pitch black sky.

"Now…" he says. "The last task is my own…"

The girl reaches out to grab the man's arm once more.

"Thank you…" she whispers.

"Keep the balance inside," the seer grins before stepping into the white light. For a moment, he looks like he's caught in a UFO's tractor beam and aliens were abducting him.

Crystal can only see his faint silhouette now with a red heart.

She watches as his hands squeeze the source of his own life. The red dust falling around him. It isn't until his heart is completely gone does he collapse to the ground. The white light engulfs his body completely and then it becomes too bright for any human to see. Crystal falls to her knees, tears in her eyes.

She closes them tightly as the power from the heart joins the spell and then a massive wave of the white light blasts from outside of the circle, engulfing everyone and most likely half the state of Boston.

The sheer magnitude of power puts everyone into an unconscious state as it undoes the Black Fairy's vengeful curse.

The last thing Crystal remembers before blacking out, are the spectacles in her pocket a reminder of who may have been the greatest hero in all of history.

 _A/N: This is the last full chapter of Her Collection, but there will be an Epilogue. Thank you for all the follows and comments, it means the world to me._


	26. Epilogue

Epilogue

"Crystal, are you coming?" a voice calls from downstairs.

"Yes, just give me a second," the girl calls. She checks her hair in the mirror and goes through the trap door of her apartment in Storybrooke. Her step-mother and father are waiting for her at the door, cradling her baby brother, Gideon. They both have wide smiles on their faces as everyone prepares for a great dinner at _**Granny's**_ _._

Her memory was a little fuzzy over the last few weeks, so much had changed and for the better,

The last thing she remembered was waking up in her car on the side of the road just outside of Storybrooke after the curse was broken. She drove back into town and was greeted by everyone she truly loved. However, the reunion was short-lived as the Black Fairy was executing the last phases of her plan. Crystal learned that her grandmother had attempted to get her hands on her wand while the curse was still going, to finally end all happy endings, but her father finished his own mother, as he was always fated to do. The curse was broken and everyone was safely returned home. However, there was still the Final Battle to face, Emma Swan vs. Gideon Gold. Her grandmother had set the perfect trap, if Gideon killed Emma, the light would be destroyed and if Emma killed Gideon, she'd turn dark and still light would be destroyed. Crystal knew that this would mean her fate would also follow her friend as she was the balance. She would also come completely dark as well. She watched helplessly as her "sister" battled her brother. She later learned that her father was battling himself deep within the caves in an attempt to get Gideon's heart back. She watched in horror as Emma threw her sword away and allowed Gideon to stab her. However, it did not play out the way one might expect because the Saviour's purpose was to protect those she loves and that love created a bright white light that made her brother disappear and seemingly killed Emma. Henry managed to wake her again with true love's kiss and everyone embraced happily. Apparently, the curse caused Henry's book to be destroyed, but it was returned in one piece as the Final Battle concluded. Snow explained that this may have been the end of Henry's storybook, but it was just the beginning for all of them.

Crystal ran off afterward to find her family. She saw her step-mother and father holding an infant. She realized that this was Gideon, her brother. Emma's power had turned him back into a baby, giving her parents a second chance at raising him. She remembered what Henry had said, that both good and evil did the right thing and thus the final battle was won. She too would remain the beacon between the two powers. She happily embraced her family with tears in her eyes and Belle allowed her to hold her baby brother for the first time. She kissed him and all of them were allowed to start over as a new family.

Much had changed since the final battle, Crystal moved back into her apartment and was now helping her father run the shop. It now said, **_Mr._** **_Gold and Family Pawnbrokers_**. David and Snow bought a farmhouse outside of the town to raise Neal, Regina remained the mayor and Zelena moved in with her sister to care for little Robin, Emma and Hook became the sheriff and deputy in town and Henry went back to school. Crystal had never felt happier in her life and yet, something felt a little off. There was still a gap in all of their memories. She couldn't remember how she ended up on the edge of Storybrooke or why.

As they walk towards **_Granny's_** , Belle suddenly stops and turns to her step-daughter.

"Oh Crystal, that reminds me. We've been so busy that it slipped my mind, but we found this when Gideon appeared to us as a baby again." She reaches into her coat pocket and pulls out something gold. Crystal's heart drops… "It's your mother's locket, isn't it?"

"Y-Yes, but what was it doing in the cave with Gideon?"

"We sure don't know," her father says.

Belle hands it to Crystal and something shoots through her body, like a jolt of lighting. The couple keeps walking up the street with their infant son, but the daughter remains on the spot. She puts her hand inside her coat pocket and feels something that wasn't there before.

"Aren't you coming Crystal?" Rumpel asks.

"Y-Yes, you guys go on ahead… I forgot my phone,"

"We'll you at **_Granny's_** then," Belle says.

The girl nods and then turns back. However, instead of going to her apartment, she goes towards her father's shop. Her heart is pounding in her chest and her hand clutches the locket tightly. She goes inside the shop and turns the lights on with her magic. She then removes what was in her pocket.

Inside are very thick spectacles that are so wide, they might make someone's eyes look like an owl's. She can feel tears coming to her own eyes, happy tears.

"I remember everything," she says to the glasses. She continues to stare at them and she can see the reflection of a very old man with white hair and gray eyes staring back at her. "I promised I wouldn't forget you." She wants to know how her locket had been restored, maybe it was because the curse was broken and like Henry's storybook, it came back again. She wasn't sure, but perhaps she didn't want to know in the end. She'd been wearing another necklace that her mother once owned, a silver chain with a crystal blue heart on the end. It was what she'd given to Rumpelstiltskin the first night as payment to spin straw into gold, and he'd given it back to her after they fell in love. She puts the necklace on herself again, examining the name, _Lillian_ , engraved on the surface. She opens it to find the same picture of her and her mother and something new. Engraved on the other half of the heart was...

 _Love can never be forgotten and is the balance of the soul._

And below that were initials, _A.M._

Crystal tears up again and closes the heart again. She examines the spectacles under the light once more and then puts them on. Literally seeing the world through someone else's eyes. She expects to be able to see the future and the potential for power like the old man could. She examines everything around the room, but nothing happens. They appear to be a pair of ordinary glasses.

She removes them, a little disappointed. The reflection of the old man is now gone. Her heart sinks a little bit.

"I shouldn't have to see the future," she says finally. "I make my own."

She then finds an empty glass case on one of her father's shelves, she places the spectacles down and then puts the glass on top. She then conjures up a small plaque to place underneath it. Engraved on its surface says.

 _The weapon of the greatest hero who ever lived A.M_

She then steps back, content with herself. She'd always remember what happened and maybe someday she'd tell the others about it, but she doubts that they would believe her. She might add a new chapter to Henry's book. One that seemed so bizarre and unbelievable, yet happened and broke a curse as well as created two true heroes.

Crystal Miller wipes the tears from her eyes and then turns to leave the shop. She turns the light out and walks away from her collection.

 _A/N: That's the end of this story. Thank you for the support and comments. I will now go back to The Monster Within and my other works. I don't know what I'd do without everyone's constant support._


End file.
